


Half-Life: Dark Flow

by AnotherTakenUsername



Category: Half-Life, RWBY
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Death, Destruction, I Don't Even Know, It's Black Mesa what do you expect, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Questionable ethics, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherTakenUsername/pseuds/AnotherTakenUsername
Summary: The Black Mesa Research Facility has always been on the cutting edge of scientific discovery. Unfortunately for them, one of their experiments goes too far, plunging the facility into an unprecedented disaster.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue - Field Research

Ray should never have signed up to work for the SDC.

He’d heard what the conditions were like in the mines. Hell, by this point, everyone had. Safety standards so lax a new tunnel collapsed every month, security guards that were there just as much to keep workers in as to keep the White Fang and Grimm out, terrible pay-

But pay was still pay. Ray just needed some money, _any_ money, something to keep his family safe and fed and warm. If he had to work fourteen hour shifts to accomplish that, then he’d do so. Brothers knew that there weren’t many other opportunities for a poor Faunus worker in Mantle. He’d already spent months looking for them as it was.

Ray was tired of their terrible apartment, with rats in the walls and a broken heating system that never could overcome the frigid Atlas climate. He was tired of the threadbare clothes they had to wear, all because they were the only outfits they could afford. They deserved a better life, one where they had more than one square meal a day and constant fear about catching colds.

Even if he signed his soul away and left his wife and daughter behind, Ray could still do _something_ there to help his family. They deserved more than to be stuck in some random Mantlean slum, even if he had to pay for it with his life.

So Ray went to his brand new home deep in the mountains, boarding the one-way airship leaving to Gods-know-where at the crack of dawn. He tried to ignore how Skyler had bawled her eyes out as he was leaving, or how Violet’s eyes had lost their spark-

If he focused on those, he’d have lost the will to leave at all. So he simply looked ahead into the cold, foreboding interior of the airship, and the dead-eyed stares of the other poor souls entering the vehicle. He’d hoped that it would hurt less when the airship doors closed, trapping them in their frigid steel coffin.

It hadn’t helped.

* * *

The mine itself was just as terrible and unwelcoming as he expected.

Mine 541, or “The Centinel’s Maw” to some, was some small, half-abandoned hole in a nameless cliff face hundreds of miles from civilization. A handful of large, icy mounds marked where most of the surface facilities were, trapped under a constant supply of snow. Some small wooden poles, topped with pitiful bulbs, were the only things that lit up the paths between the buildings.

The outskirts of the camp were a little more impressive, if only because that was where the guard houses and walls were. Those buildings were much more well-maintained, with the snow and ice frequently removed by Faunus workers. White-and-grey camouflaged guards patrolled the outskirts regularly, equipped with second-rate Atlesian weapons and winter gear.

Somehow, he doubted that they would be able to protect the workers from a full-sized Grimm horde. Or willing, for that matter.

As for the mine itself, it had certainly earned its name. Blasted into the bottom of a flat, obsidian cliffside, the mine was the only noteworthy landmark around. The entrance was filed with hundreds of massive stalactites, the stones glistening with a light covering of frost. From a distance, it almost did look like the mouth of some titanic Grimm, beckoning its prey inside. Someone had even installed red emergency lights above the entrance, bathing the area in a malevolent, discomforting glow.

As soon as he stepped off the airship, he knew that he had made a mistake. He knew that he should have stayed at home and kept looking for work elsewhere, far from this terrible place.

But he had already signed the contract. The SDC effectively owned him for the next year, in exchange for a small monthly sum forwarded to his family. If he tried to run back to Mantle now, they wouldn’t see a single Lien of that money.

And that was assuming he’d evade the guards, some of whom had already taken up positions around the entrances of the airship. He saw a few others glance back, likely having the same doubts as him, but none were brave enough to risk walking back onboard.

Soon enough, all of the workers were huddled together in front of the makeshift lodgings, clustered together like a pack of depressed, starving cattle. The overseer of the mine, some overdressed human with a noticeable gut, went into a brief introduction of the camp, describing their duties, the more important rules, and what ‘benefits’ the company would provide them for their service.

Ray tried to listen to the information, as condescending and cruel as most of it was. He didn’t want to catch the ire of the guards or have his already meager pay diminished further.

However, his eyes kept drifting behind the overseer to another figure standing near the edge of the clearing. Dressed in a simple blue suit, and apparently uncaring of the freezing conditions, the businessman simply stood on the plaza, seemingly unnoticed by everyone besides Ray.

And the businessman had certainly noticed Ray. He could feel the businessman’s gaze boring into him, picking him out in the middle of the crowd. Even with the thickest winter clothing he could afford wrapped around him, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being put under a microscope.

Thankfully, the overseer finished up his speech, letting the new arrivals disperse and pick out which cabins they’d stay in. Ray quickly took the opportunity to walk away from the strange businessman, heading towards the buildings on the other side of the compound. With any luck, that person was just around for a visit, and this would just be a one-time encounter.

Ray hurried along, desperately hugging his ragged jacket tighter and hoping that tomorrow would be normal.

* * *

As feared, the work was horrible and exhausting.

Waking up several hours before the sun rose, and quickly gulping down some poor semblance of a breakfast, the miners were quickly gathered around and sent into the mine. A few pieces of safety gear were handed out to those at the front of the mob, mostly old mining helmets and a few cracked sets of goggles. Everyone else was left hoping they wouldn't need that kind of gear.

After that, they were sent further down into the tunnels, clearing debris, fixing and adding support beams, and moving carts of Dust and stone back towards the surface. Most workers were shifted around from job to job, filling in as others got sick, injured, or worse.

Ray was one of the ‘lucky’ ones. He was assigned relatively close to the mine entrance, typically working on maintaining the tracks or clearing debris from the pathways. The air was still mostly clean, with a low concentration of contaminants or Dust particles.

From there, the work continued as normal for hours, with guards and foremen occasionally patrolling to check the efficiency of the workers or to try and find contraband. A few times, they took miners who were working too slowly or who weren’t following orders closely enough, dragging them off towards a less populated section of the mine. The miners usually returned with bruised, bloodied faces and a newfound work ethic.

Sometimes they didn’t return at all.

After about twelve hours of that kind of work, they were finally let back out into the surface camp, replaced with the next shift of miners. At first, Ray tried to greet some of the workers as he passed them by. He quickly stopped doing so.

During their free hours, there was remarkably little to do around the camp. The only means of getting alcohol, better food, or messages back home was the company store near the guard barracks. The prices were exorbitant, but many still spent their paychecks there.

As much as he wished he could send a message back home, Ray couldn’t. Skyler and Violet needed that money. It would do more good sitting in their bank account than spent on a single letter.

Instead, there were pastimes the miners organized themselves. Gambling was a frequent activity, with both cards and dice being common. A handful of board games had also made their way into the camp, with a surprisingly large number of workers willing to play them.

And finally, there was the most common activity of them all: sleep.

Thankfully, the constant snow was useful for plugging in gaps in the walls, letting most of the heat stay indoors. The beds, while ancient, were still comfortable enough after spending hours working underground.

It…really wasn’t that much, even compared to the slums of Mantle, but it was all they had.

Ray groaned, quickly kicking off his boots and diving under the covers. Just twelve more months, and he could go home.

* * *

The businessman hadn’t left.

Ray tried to ignore him to the best of his ability. The strange man hadn’t approached him, and Ray certainly didn’t want to try and talk to him.

But he just kept _appearing_ , right out of the corner of his eye. Walking around the corners of cabins and other buildings, talking to some of the foremen in the mines, staring directly at Ray when he tried to get dinner…he just kept appearing out of nowhere, then disappearing shortly afterwards. Even staying in the cabin didn’t help. Sometimes it felt like the businessman was standing right outside the front door, just waiting to be let inside.

Worse still, almost nobody else seemed to even notice the man. None of the other miners he talked to knew who he was describing, and the guards just got annoyed when he tried to ask them about the situation. Even the foremen who had talked with the man previously refused to say just who the hell he was supposed to be.

It was like the man was a ghost, but…that couldn’t be right. Sure, those pitch-black irises of his were intimidating, and Ray was apparently the only one who noticed him, but…ghosts didn’t exist, right? And even if they did, why would one from a businessman be here?

…Gods, he needed to go home. Only one month at the mines, and he was already seeing things.

* * *

Around Ray’s second month at the mine, the situation started to change.

It was little things at first. Miners talking about how someone they knew went to their shift one day and never came back. Tales of strange sounds and lights coming from the deepest sections of the mines. Concerning stories, but it seemed like just the usual tales bored miners would throw around.

However, as the days went on, the disappearances became more frequent and noticeable. Groups arriving back from the deeper tunnels were losing several people at a time, all while separated from the rest. Guards were sent further down into the mine, armed and armored as heavily as the surface patrols, but that didn't seem to stop the incidents.

Even the guards were beginning to panic, talking about strange footprints and massive syringes near the camp outskirts. Stranger still, the Grimm attacks on the camp became less frequent, despite the rising tension and fear within the mine.

Rumors began spreading about what was going on, each one more outlandish than the last. Some were saying that the Grimm were migrating into the mine, entering through a hidden entrance somewhere else. Others were saying that the SDC was testing some sort of weapon or Grimm repellent on them. A few even said the mines could be haunted.

Ray tried to ignore those particular rumors, just as he tried to ignore the fact that the businessman’s appearances were becoming more frequent. A few of his coworkers even saw him from time to time, although none could ever figure out who he was. Every time someone tried to approach him, he would simply disappear around a corner or behind a door.

Making matters even worse, with the onset of winter, communications with the outside world were much more limited. At best, they could send out messages with the shipments of raw Dust sent off to the refineries. At worst, the trains wouldn’t even arrive at the mine, delayed by poor weather conditions.

The mine couldn’t last like this. At the same time, it wasn’t like the SDC was just going to walk away from a functional Dust mine just for minor concerns like worker safety.

All Ray could do was hope that they’d ask the government for help instead of just hiring more workers and continuing as normal.

* * *

It was at the end of his third month into the contract when everything went wrong.

By this point, the disappearances had become apparent to everyone. Several of the cabins were completely empty, and nobody was willing to walk alone in the mines or the camp. Even then, some of those groups would simply fail to return from work some days.

Even the human guards weren’t spared from whatever was going on. The exact details were scarce, but rumors were still flying around that some of the guard patrols hadn’t come back from their shifts. Their attitudes, already bored and malicious on the best of days, had shifted into complete paranoia, with more and more guards refusing to step foot into the mines.

It was getting to the point where everyone, human and Faunus alike, were on the verge of barricading themselves in their quarters and waiting for someone to rescue them.

There was only one thing that kept them from doing so: the mine’s overseer doubled their wages.

Many of the miners refused to believe the announcement at first. The SDC _never_ increased wages to a degree like that unless it was for one of the upper executives. Some of the workers at the mine had been working on the same land for years, and they’d only had their yearly wages increased by a few dozen Lien overall before this.

They had finally gotten living wages, and all it had taken was a third of the workforce disappearing into the Centinel’s Maw. Now they simply needed to work up the courage to follow those lost souls underground.

Ray knew that it probably wasn’t worth it. He knew that whatever was in those mines was just as likely to drag him off into the darkness as all the other poor workers before him.

But money was still money. Money for Skyler and Violet to find a better apartment. Money for more food, for more clothing, for more _everything_.

And so, even though he wanted to just wait for the next train to arrive and catch a ride back home, Ray went to work. He put on his winter clothing, joined his remaining coworkers, and walked into the foreboding dimness of the mine, trying to ignore the now-familiar gaze that followed him into hell.

It was all for them.

* * *

This time, his workplace had been shifted around.

Instead of the usual, relatively comfortable position near the entrance to the mines, he was being sent down to the deeper sections of the mines. Apparently, the groups working down there were the ones suffering the majority of the disappearances, and other miners were being shifted around as replacements.

The number of guards was no different. While the ones assigned to the mining teams remained the same, there were also more guards stationed along the shafts, manning hastily assembled checkpoints and wearing heavy armor. The fact that their guns were all pointed further into the tunnels did little to bolster the confidence of the miners headed that direction.

The tunnels themselves seemed to become gloomier and more threatening as they ventured deeper within. The number of lights gradually became fewer and fewer, casting stretches of tunnel into complete darkness. Rail carts and other machines also fell away, with the rails tapering off at certain points. Even the stone itself seemed to grow rougher and sharper, with jagged protrusions becoming commonplace.

However, just like the tunnels became less developed further in, the number of Dust crystals began to increase. Closer to the entrance, there were only a handful of small, insignificant crystals left on the walls, too small to bother picking away. Closer to the bottom of the mine, the crystals became much larger and clearer, showing a rainbow of deadly, invaluable colors.

Without a word, the ones used to working this far underground began mining away at the clusters, regularly and carefully breaking off crystals with their picks. Others followed suit, picking up crystals and sorting them based on type and size.

Ray got the lucky job of moving the sorted crystals back up to the rail carts and preparing them for transport back to the surface.

He wasn’t alone, thankfully. About a dozen other workers went along with him, along with two human guards. Neither of them looked happy to be sent off with their group, but at least they were too focused on watching the shadows to take their frustrations out on the miners.

For the first few hours, the job went exactly as planned. It was still exhausting, backbreaking labor, carrying heavy loads a considerable distance, but for a while, the only things they had to worry about were the rifle butts of the guards and the numerous contaminants in the air.

Then the ambush was sprung.

It was on the way back up to the rail carts, passing through one of the dimmer sections of the tunnel. The Faunus workers all had their arms filled with Dust crystals, their minds too preoccupied with their fatigued arms to watch their surroundings. The guards had also relaxed slightly, with the shift so far showing nothing out of the ordinary.

Their relaxed attitudes cost them as they fell to the ground, clutching desperately at their necks.

Most of the miners quickly followed, with soft _thump_ s marking another poor worker falling pathetically onto cold stone. A few tried to call out, but the speed of the ambush meant that they only let off aborted grunts and pained moans before collapsing.

Somehow, by some miracle, Ray wasn’t one of them. Instead of falling over, he watched in horror as his coworkers lost control of themselves, dropping his Dust crystals as he did so. Tumbling backwards, he hurriedly crawled away, ducking behind a nearby boulder and hunkering down.

They missed him. Whatever horrible things were causing these disappearances had shown up had finally shown up, and they hadn’t seen him! All he had to do was wait for them to leave, and he could run back to the others for help!

…But that would leave him without any idea of what had even caused all of this.

Ray didn’t want to look back into the tunnel. He didn’t want his fears to be confirmed.

But he couldn’t help himself. The disappearances had been going on for so long, and the rumors just kept growing, and he was so _tired_ of the paranoia and the mystery and the fear in the camp.

So Ray glanced around the boulder, already regretting doing so.

Both of the SDC guards were lying face-down on the floor, limbs splayed out and weapons thrown away. It was impossible to tell if they were even breathing or not at this distance. The miners were in similar states, their bodies spread out across the tunnel and surrounded by scattered Dust crystals.

Above them, several figures in full-body suits were looking the bodies over, coated in splashes of silver and orange. Most of them were wielding firearms, although they were distinctly different models than the ones the SDC guards used. Small shoulder-mounted lights cast them into eerie glows, making it almost impossible to pick out exact details.

To Ray, the exact details didn’t matter. There were complete strangers in the mines, killing or kidnapping the workers and wielding heavier gear than the guards assigned to protect them.

And that meant that he needed to leave _now_ , and get help, and try to get more of the guards to come investigate-

One of the figures turned, casting their light directly onto Ray’s hiding place. Muffled shouts rang out as they raised their weapons, moving to catch him.

He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to find out what those figures were doing to everyone else they got their hands on.

So Ray turned and ran, sprinting away as fast as he could. Something flew past his head with a powerful _swoosh_ , impacting the wall and throwing out a shower of dirt. He ignored it, focusing on the landmarks and trying to figure out the quickest path back.

Ray just had to keep running, back to the main shaft, back to where there were lights and more workers and actual security guards. Those bastards had always been slave drivers, but even _they_ would have to care when their workers were being abducted by whatever those figures were.

And if they didn’t, he’d still take an SDC bullet over whatever the hell those figures were planning for him back there.

He just had to keep moving, just a little longer. He could already see the lights getting stronger up ahead, and the nearest security checkpoint wasn’t much further along the path. He could make it, he could escape-

A sharp, stinging pain suddenly erupted in Ray’s leg, sending his sprawling onto the floor. He wanted to get back up and keep running, but his leg felt completely numb. Worse still, he could feel the numbness spreading, slowly overtaking his lower body.

Ray groggily wondered if they had shot him. That was supposed to happen when you were losing blood quickly, right? Or was that shock?

He fruitlessly pawed forward against the stone tunnel floor, hoping to crawl forwards, but his arms had lost their strength as well. Everything felt so heavy and exhausting, his brain begging him to close his eyes and simply let reality go.

His last thoughts were of his family, wondering if he’d ever see them again.

* * *

“Excellent shot, Hanson. I was sure that it was about to escape.”

Hanson sighed, shaking his head as he lowered his crossbow. “This shouldn’t have happened in the first place, Hayden. How did we miss that specimen?”

“Relax, doc.” One of their guards piped up. Hanson tried to remember his name, but he hadn’t interacted much with their more martial-based compatriots. “Even if this didn’t go entirely to plan, we still got them all in the end. ‘sides, it’s still easier than trying to catch whatever those monsters are.”

That point was certainly valid. While those specimens were far more fascinating than the human-like creatures they had just captured, they were far more dangerous to subdue. Not to mention the frustration of their bodies eventually dissipating into some sort of lurid mist in the event that they had to use lethal force.

But they still needed to be careful. While they had been successful thus far, Hanson was certainly not enthusiastic about being located by whatever other creatures lived nearby. He doubted that Black Mesa would be able to rescue them, should worst come to worst.

“And they even have crystal samples with them, albeit less than I had hoped. I wonder what sort of applications they have for this type of material.” Hayden muttered, looking at the specimen’s discarded cargo. Even under the bulk of his H.E.V. suit, Hanson could feel the excitement radiating from his colleague.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s just load them all up and get them back to the labs.” The guard continued, picking up one of the live specimens. “We don’t want to keep the administrator waiting.”

 _That_ thought was certainly enough to motivate Hanson, moving to grab the nearest body. Even if his coworkers frustrated him, this position was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he would not let petty disputes take that away from him.


	2. Workplace Hazards

**8:47 A.M.**

The coffee was surprisingly good for something thrown together at the last second.

Sure, it was a bit too hot, and he’d probably dumped in too much cream and sugar, but it wasn’t the worst coffee he’d ever had. Even if it was a little too sweet, it was still refreshing enough for his tastes. The caffeine was also more than welcome this early in the morning. Probably would taste better with a doughnut or bagel to go along with it, but just coffee would do for now.

It would have been nice if the travel mug was bigger, admittedly, but he was already stretching the rules by bringing his drink onto the tram system, and he didn’t want to get into trouble. The amount he had would tide him over for the next few minutes, at least. Enough for him to make it over to Sector C in a mostly coherent state.

…He was probably going to be fired, wasn’t he?

Gordon sighed, leaning back on his seat and rubbing his temples. He knew he should have set more than one alarm. They had the test today, everyone was supposed to be ready at the labs, it was _important-_

And now he was an hour late, praying to whatever God was out there that the tram system didn’t break down on the way to work. Given the accidents and malfunctions he’d seen on the tracks before, he wasn’t holding out much hope for that.

He clutched his head in his hands, trying to ignore the monotone voice of the automated messaging system. For some reason, that robotic tone always gave him a headache. Why should he care about the exact temperature of the facility, anyways? And every morning, at that?

It was just one of those things that made the tram system a pain to use, like how the seat ‘cushions’ were made out of hard plastic that dug into your back, or the disorientation from riding the tram lifts, or even the fact that you needed a security guard just to open the doors once you got to the research labs. He’d walk if he could, but…

Well, to be honest, the temperature _was_ pretty comfortable inside the tram. It beat the New Mexico heat any day.

Other sections of the Black Mesa Research Facility passed by through the windows, security stations and offices jutting out of grey concrete and brown stone. Nobody else seemed to be in much of a hurry; scientists and guards alike meandered near the platforms, chatting to each other or working to maintain another failing piece of the facility’s infrastructure.

The frequency of repairs wasn’t all that surprising. After all, Black Mesa had survived almost the entire Cold War, and was still chugging along into the twenty-first century. That didn’t make it any more comfortable when part of the ventilation system broke, or the lights suddenly went out. Those incidents were rare, admittedly, but still frequent enough to make him question why they were still using the facility instead of just moving somewhere else.

There were a few sections of the facility that were interesting to look at during the trip, although their proximity to the tram system made Gordon question the usefulness of their clearance levels. Manufacturing bays for rocket engines and fuselages, landing pads for military observers and other VIPs, a massive pool of toxic waste-

Gordon did a double-take, blinking as he stared at the large collection of neon-green chemicals pouring out of a damaged storage tank nearby. A constant stream of the material poured over the edge of the tank, while a hazy green fog rose into the air, floating uncomfortably close to the tram. Several scientists and maintenance workers rushed to contain the flow as he passed above, not even bothering to spare him a glance.

…He made a quick note to move up his scheduled radiation screening, preferably immediately after the test.

* * *

**8:50 A.M.**

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Barney muttered, staring at the steel door in resignation.

Really, it was just his luck. Of all the times the damned passcode refused to work, it was when he was late to his shift. It was the correct code, it was the same one he always used on this door, but the security system refused to acknowledge them.

He had done his due diligence in trying to solve the problem. Typing in different passcodes, radioing the situation to the security desk, and even giving the door some percussive maintenance when he’d gotten fed up with the situation. Sadly, only one of those had been successful, and even then, the guard on the other side was having trouble letting him in.

It was a shame that his tram had already left. Sure, trying to access that part of the facility from another level would be a pain, but it beat having to choose between staring at the security door or staring at the empty tunnel, watching trams pass by every few minutes.

“Don’t worry, Calhoun, I’ve almost got it.” A muffled voice called out from the other side of the door.

“That’s what you said five minutes ago.” Barney groaned. He sighed, leaning against the wall as another tram approached. Judging the distance, he wondered if he could try to leap over and catch a ride to another station. It was mostly to amuse himself, but…if it _was_ close enough…

He shook his head. Those kinds of ideas never ended well. Besides, someone would probably yell at him again. Scientist-watching was good enough for the time being.

And, if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, it looked like he wasn’t the only one running late. Sitting on that tram was none other than Gordon Freeman, nursing what looked like a cup of joe and a miserable expression. Poor bastard must have been delayed, just like him.

Barney offered a wave and a smile, trying to cheer his buddy up. If Gordon saw, he only replied by slumping down in his seat further. Oh well. He’d try again at lunch.

The sharp _hiss_ of pneumatics caught Barney’s attention, turning around to find that the door had finally opened. Another guard, David, stood on the other side, offering a sheepish look. “Sorry about that, Calhoun. We’ve been having issues all morning. Clearance issues, system crashes…seems like nothing’s working the way it’s supposed to.”

Barney waved him off. “Eh, it’s not your fault. Any idea what’s causing this?”

“Nope, but whatever it is, it’s hitting everything. From the sounds of things, half the facility’s about to shut down.” David replied, shutting the door behind Barney. “Hope you’re not late for your shift.”

“It’ll be fine.” Barney said, ignoring the fact that his shift had started half an hour ago. He had a valid excuse for being late. It wasn’t like they’d rake him over the coals for something like that. Probably.

“Either way, you’d better hurry up and get your gear.” David continued. “It’s all hands on deck today until everything gets sorted out.”

Barney groaned, walking inside. He just knew that this was going to be a long shift.

* * *

**9:03 A.M.**

“Hello, Gordon! Another day, another dollar, am I right?” An elderly scientist asked, laughing to himself.

Gordon chuckled politely, making sure to move away from Coomer before he could start up an actual conversation. The man was pleasant enough, and had helped Gordon on a handful of projects in the past, but…

Well, he was a conspiracy theorist. Worse, he was one who solely talked about conspiracy theories involving Black Mesa. Gordon was already running late for work; he couldn’t afford to spend twenty minutes hearing about how other departments were researching cybernetics or making clones of the employees.

It didn’t help that he hadn’t even had his full cup of coffee. The security guard at the tram platform had taken one look at the travel mug and grabbed it off him, tossing it into the trash. So much precious, precious caffeine, wasted because of some pointless regulation.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the break room had a coffee machine in it, but apparently that had been removed a while back due to ‘creating a needless distraction’. Now all they had were energy drinks and sodas in the vending machines, and those just didn’t have the same kick to them.

Evading Coomer’s attempts at further conversation, Gordon continued into the locker room. All he needed to do was get his HEV suit on and get down to the test chamber. These system crashes had been a blessing in disguise, but even if they bought him some time, he needed to get moving.

Thankfully, his destination wasn’t far. Situated in one of the corners of the locker room, hidden around a small bend, was the storage area for Sector C’s HEV suits. Three massive containers jutted out from one of the walls, normally hooking up cables and sensors to the units in storage. This time around, only one unit was left, sitting behind a massive glass chamber.

Even after using the suit for weeks, the sight of it never ceased to put a little awe into Gordon. He’d read the specs. Enough armor to stop small-arms fire, a comfortable and heavily insulated interior bodysuit, state-of-the-art electronics and medical systems, and still capable of providing near-unlimited freedom of movement. It was a miracle of modern technology, with a price tag to match it.

It reminded him of a suit of medieval plate armor, with the full-body protection and the vibrant lambda symbol on the front. Protection fitting for a modern-day knight. Except instead of slaying dragons and rescuing princesses, he got to push crystals into anti-mass spectrometers and compile test data for the weekly reports.

At least the suit had air conditioning.

Shaking his head, Gordon moved towards a control panel in the center of the room, entering his credentials and opening the remaining chamber. Sadly, this wasn’t a quick or painless process; HEV suits had to be calibrated every time the user put one on, running checks on internal systems and determining the average vital signs of the wearer.

Worse still, just like the tram’s automated announcement system, it talked about each step. Slowly, loudly, and in the same monotone voice that kept grating on his ears. Unfortunately, unlike with the tram, this information could be vitally important should an accident occur, so he couldn’t afford to ignore it.

…Damn it, he was still going to be late, wasn’t he?

Gordon sighed, moving towards the suspended HEV suit. The sooner the system checks were completed, the sooner he could get yelled at by Braun and try to keep his job.

* * *

**9:08 A.M.**

“No, Calhoun, it’s still just the standard loadout for today. The shotguns are off limits.” The armory technician said, rolling his eyes. “Even if the science team is scary, you don’t need that kind of firepower.”

“You haven’t been around them long enough, then.” Barney said, sighing exaggeratedly. He was joking, but honestly, he wouldn’t mind having some extra protection now and then. The older science team members could get downright nasty whenever somebody lower ranked got on their bad side.

The technician raised an eyebrow. “Trust me, I know just how bad they can get. Before I was here, they used to have me posted over in Administration. Guess who got to hear all those scientists moan about needing to see the administrator when their projects were cut?”

Barney hissed. “Yikes. You have my sympathy.”

“I’m just glad they accepted my transfer.” The technician said, reaching under the counter. “It’s a lot more fun being around here than being stuck guarding those big-wigs.”

“I’ll bet. Besides, you’ve got access to all the fun toys down here.” Barney said, grinning as the technician stood back up.

“And how. I swear, I’ve gotten more range time here than I did back in the army.” The technician said, depositing a pistol, holster, and several magazines on the counter. “Speaking of which, if you’ve got the time, the range is just about empty at the moment. Feel free to practice for a few minutes if you want.”

“Nah, I’m fine.” Barney said, picking up his equipment. As he placed his holster on his belt, he smirked. “Unless you’re willing to let me test out some of the other stuff you’ve got back there…”

The technician leveled an unamused look at Barney, crossing his arms.

“Alright, fine. I’ll get out of your hair.” Barney said, backing off. Even if he’d failed today, he’d get his hands on one of those shotguns eventually. Besides, it wasn’t quite the same as a twelve-gauge, but a pistol was still a pistol. Not that he’d need it.

* * *

**9:16 A.M.**

_“-Communication interface: online. Have a very safe day.”_

With that final bit of encouragement, the voice faded away, the HEV suit having finished its diagnostics. Lines of code and system reports faded from his helmet, allowing him to see clearly once more.

And not a moment too soon. It was already a quarter past nine, and Gordon couldn’t afford to spend any more time preparing for the test. He would have headed down as soon as he had put the suit on, but the suit’s robotic voice always drowned out everything else that was going on. Besides, a lot of the systems in the suit were important, even if others were excessive. Seriously, why did he need a ‘munitions monitoring’ system?

It was possible that this suit was one of the ones the military had tested a while back, and they simply never bothered to remove those extra features. These suits practically cost as much as an APC, so it made sense that they’d reuse as many of them as possible.

But those extra features meant that he had to spend precious time waiting for the checkups to finish. Time that, today, was in incredibly short supply.

As he hurried out of the locker room, barely dodging an enthusiastic Coomer, he couldn’t help but feel happy that the suit was running at full capacity. Waiting for the other suits to be returned would have taken hours, and repairing the suit likely would’ve been even longer. At that point, they would have had to cancel the test, and with the administrator breathing down their necks, that would _not_ have ended well for the department.

Thankfully, the walk to the security checkpoint was uneventful. A few scientists offered polite greetings as he hurried, making his way past several offices and individual labs. Small colored lines on the grey concrete walls offered the only decoration, telling him what general direction the more important facilities were.

Finally, the last obstacle in his way appeared; a set of paned glass doors, guarded by a single security officer. A typical Black Mesa security checkpoint, where only the right set of retinas could let you inside.

“Morning, Doctor Freeman. You finally made it.” The guard said, smirking as Gordon approached. “Ready to go in the barrel today?”

Gordon sighed, waving the guard on. He really didn’t have time for this, and if the guard knew about the test, then he should know that.

“Sheesh, okay then.” The guard muttered, leaning into the retina scanner. “Hey, don’t worry about it. With all those delays earlier, I’m sure you’ll be on-”

_“Access denied.”_

Both of them flinched at the automated voice, dreading what it meant. Gordon glanced at the doors, hoping against all evidence that this was just a glitch with the audio files.

The doors remained closed, taunting him with a view of the path to the test chamber.

“Well, shit.” The guard said, leaning back over the machine. “Sorry, sir. Must be the security system acting up again. Looks like this’ll take me a few minutes to fix.”

It was only the knowledge that the guard would detain him that kept Gordon from trying to break the door.

* * *

**9:23 A.M.**

The tram station near the Particle Labs was a pretty comfortable place to wait for your ride.

A couple of vending machines, sitting close enough for you to reach over and buy something without standing up. Chairs that rivaled Sector D’s in terms of comfort and cushioning. Plenty of space to walk around, a few potted plants to spruce up the décor…decent lighting…

…It wasn’t actually that much better than Central Transit, if he was being completely honest. Or any other tram station on the base.

Sadly, there wasn’t a whole lot to do around here besides look around, read a newspaper, and hope your tram hadn’t been delayed. And since he hadn’t brought a newspaper, and his ride to Sector G was nowhere in sight…

Well, Barney had to find entertainment somewhere, and he still had to catch a ride. Unless he felt like heading back to the shooting range and ignoring his orders, he was stuck counting ceiling tiles for the foreseeable future. All because some big-wig scientists couldn’t get an elevator to work.

He still wasn’t sure just what the hell they expected him to do about it. If it was an issue with the security clearances, then, yeah, he might be able to do something to help them out. But with the ways all the other equipment was acting up today, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was something mechanical that broke down. If that was the case, they’d have to wait for an actual mechanic to show up.

That would _not_ be a fun conversation to have with two pissed off senior scientists.

“I wouldn’t wait for the tram, if I were you.”

Barney definitely did not jump at the sudden voice. He may have flinched, slightly, but he did _not_ jump. Turning towards the speaker, he saw an exhausted-looking scientist leaning against the wall, looking at him with bloodshot eyes.

“From what I’ve heard, the entire tram system is acting up. Delays, reroutes…it’s an absolute mess.” The scientist sighed. “If your destination is close enough, you’d probably be better off just walking there.”

Barney had already considered doing that, but…he really didn’t want to walk to Sector G. It wasn’t that the walk was that long, or that he’d have to backtrack. It was just that the only path between the Particle Labs and Sector G was through the maintenance tunnels.

Barney was a rational person. He had to be, in order to deal with the kind of workplace environment that Black Mesa encouraged.

But those tunnels always gave him the willies, for reasons he couldn’t understand. Maybe it was the fact that, despite all the money going into fancy machines and big projects, they never found the funds to install enough lights down there. Maybe it was the rumors that some of the old staff members had gotten lost down there and never made it back out.

Still…if that was the only way to make it over to Sector G…

Barney sighed, reluctantly getting up from his seat. The station benches really were nice to sit on, even if the ones on the trams were cheap. “Thanks for the advice, sir. Guess I’d better get going.”

The scientist didn’t reply, simply staring off into the distance. Barney didn’t bother him. Poor guy looked like he had been working here all night, and with the system crashes going on, it couldn’t have been easy for him.

Hopefully Gordon wouldn’t have that kind of luck.

* * *

**9:34 A.M.**

“They’re waiting for you, Gordon. In the test chamberrrrr _._ ”

Yes, he understood that. Quite well, in fact. Braun had been very insistently telling him that exact same thing for the past ten minutes, along with how Gordon had failed the science team, and how the administrator would hear about his ineptitude.

But it wasn’t like Gordon could say anything in return. The man had been working here for nearly thirty years at this point. Compared to that kind of seniority, his own Research Associate title offered no protection. All he could do was keep working and hope that the results of the test distracted Braun from writing any disciplinary reports.

So he simply nodded and headed out of the observation room, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Sorry about him, Gordon.” Kleiner said, walking alongside him. “We’ve all been a little high strung today with all of these errors. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

For another senior member of the research staff, Kleiner was surprisingly nice to be around. Sure, he could be a little eccentric at times, but it wasn’t on the same scale as Coomer. At worst, he’d simply get too interested in some new test results or lock himself in his office.

Gordon didn’t care what Barney said, the vents were absolutely the fastest way to get to Kleiner’s office. He’d proven it before, and he’d prove it again.

Together with Eli and Barney, some days it felt like they were the only ones he could talk to in Black Mesa. Everyone else tended to be too busy, self-absorbed, or awkward to have a regular conversation around.

“Good morning, Gordon, Kleiner.” A familiar voice called out. Turning towards the end of the room, Gordon saw Eli approaching them with a worried look on his face.

“Ah, greetings, Eli.” Kleiner said. “I hope this morning finds you well.”

Gordon smiled, opening his mouth to greet Eli-

**_thunk_ **

When one of the nearby computers suddenly shook, the case bursting open and sending pieces of glass and metal falling to the floor.

The next few moments were filled with frantic cries and the smell of burning plastic as Eli and Kleiner attempted to shut down the system. Several of the circuit boards had melted through completely, the displays all showed error messages. Thankfully, after quickly disconnecting some of the wiring, they were able to shut down the system.

“It’s these last-minute changes. This equipment was never meant to perform at this level.” Eli sighed, slumping back against a wall. “We can’t keep it running like this for long.”

“Now, now, Eli. It will last through the test, as long as we keep an eye on it.” Kleiner said, turning back towards Gordon. “Run along, Gordon. We’ll be but a moment.”

This seemed like an incredibly bad idea to Gordon. If their equipment was already breaking down, to the point of systems nearly exploding, they should call the test off. An anti-mass spectrometer was an expensive piece of equipment. Nobody wanted something that important to fall apart.

But as Gordon looked at the hesitant faces of Eli and Kleiner, he knew that they didn’t have much of a choice. The administrator had been pushing them to test this sample for over a week, and they couldn’t keep him waiting for long. It didn’t help that the only member of the team with the authority to stop the test was Braun, and there was no way his ego would let him do that.

…As long as it was only the secondary and tertiary systems that were affected, the test would probably be fine. Probably. Once the test was over, they could double-check the equipment, figure out what the issues were, and repair them.

Reluctantly, Gordon waved goodbye to the both of them, heading towards the test chamber. He hoped they wouldn’t face too many issues once the test got started.

* * *

**9:45 A.M.**

“Oh, thank God, it’s finally over.” Barney said, basking in the glow of the Sector G tram platform.

Well, it wasn’t quite over. He still had to go help those eggheads figure out what was wrong with the elevators.

But he was out of those damned maintenance tunnels, and that was something worth celebrating. All those long stretches of darkness, the countless barrels and crates shoved every which way, the noises coming from the pipes and the ventilation system…

Eugh. No wonder people kept saying that place was haunted.

Crossing over the canal hadn’t helped with that. They must have had the entire San Juan River running through there with all the water that was passing by. All that stood between him and a twenty-foot drop into the rapids below was a metal grate bridge, rusted with age and about as stable as rotten wood.

Then there was the tram that had passed over the canal. Barney wasn’t sure who the guy riding it was supposed to be, but the way that person was looking at him was downright creepy. It was probably just some government agent headed to the high-security sectors, dressed up in that fancy blue suit of his, but something about him just felt off.

But it was over now. He had made his way through the deepest depths of Black Mesa and come out unscathed. Even better, he had bragging rights for whenever someone started to talk about yet another ghost story involving those tunnels.

“Not going back there if I can help it.” Barney muttered, moving towards the elevators. With luck, he could figure out what was wrong with the elevators, help these people get to work, and move on without getting into-

“Ah, look who _finally_ arrived.”

Damn it. Further down the hallway, standing by the elevator doors, were two scientists. One of them was simply waiting patiently, looking over some file or another. The other scientist, on the other hand, was tapping his foot and giving him the _look_.

Barney hated that look, the one that the research staff sometimes gave out whenever someone further down the corporate ladder got in their way. It was a look that just _screamed_ arrogance, and impatience, and the inevitable loss of your job.

“Sorry, sir, there was a delay with the tram.” Barney said, hoping the diplomatic approach would work. “I had to take the tunnels over here.”

“Then you should have walked faster.” The scientist growled. “We don’t pay you people to mosey around at your own convenience. Now get this elevator working so we can get on with our jobs.”

Barney simply nodded, recognizing that the diplomatic approach had crashed and burned. He moved into the elevator, glancing at the control panel. At a glance, everything seemed in order; the paneling and buttons were in good condition, and it didn’t seem like the wiring was fried.

“It’s not the hardware.” The mean scientist snapped. “The problem is the security system. Apparently this elevator is on lockdown mode, for whatever reason. Now hurry up and unlock it, or whatever it is you do.”

“Will do, sir.” Barney said, plastering on the fakest smile he could muster. Thankfully, the mean scientist was right. All he had to do was put in his credentials, and the elevator unlocked again. Both scientists quickly entered the elevator, with the impatient one pressing the button to go down before Barney could leave.

As soon as he managed to escape, he was heading back to the firing range. Forget what anyone else said, he had earned a break after everything that had happened so far.

* * *

**9:46 A.M.**

_“Um…it’s probably not an issue…probably…but I’m seeing a small discrepancy in…well, no. It’s well within acceptable parameters.”_

That announcement did little to instill confidence in Gordon. They had barely even set up the emitters, and already something was off with the systems? Even if they completed the test, would their readings be considered accurate with the equipment malfunctions?

Although, with high-energy plasma flying around less than a few meters from him, he had higher concerns than the sample readings. The vibrant orange of the beam, while awe-inspiring and breathtaking, was also deadly to anyone it touched. If something went wrong and that beam shifted, even an HEV suit wouldn’t stop it from vaporizing him.

The science team could be right, and the discrepancy was minor. Or they could just be saying that because they were safe in the fortified viewing room instead of in the middle of the test chamber.

_“I’ve just been informed that the sample is ready, Gordon. It should be arriving to you shortly.”_

Either way, the experiment must go on.

Soon enough, the sample arrived in the chamber, lifted on a small freight elevator. The sample itself was suspended on a small cart, lifted by two metal prongs in the front. There were a few features of the crystal that were different from the usual samples, such as its black coloration and the smoothness of its surface, but that probably had to do with why everyone was so desperate to examine it.

Sighing, he made his way behind the cart, gripping tightly onto the handles. They had tried to automate this process, but the additional mechanical parts never lasted long once the sample was inserted into the plasma. As such, he needed to push it in himself, wait for the readings to be taken, then remove the crystal. A tedious, but ultimately vital, process for each experiment.

As Gordon moved forward, he went through the shut-down procedure in his head. Remove the sample from the plasma beam and return it to the lift. Wait for the emitters to power down in sequence. Climb the ladder and shut down the rotors-

**_BZZZZZT_ **

As soon as the crystal touched the beam, Gordon knew that something had gone wrong. A horrific cracking noise erupted from the crystal, sending chunks flying off in the distance. He tried to move backwards, but found himself stuck to the platform, unable to move.

_“Gordon, get away from there!”_

Nearby pieces of machinery began to bend and twist, locking the cart in place. The orange glow of the plasma, normally overwhelming on its own, only grew further in intensity, sending bursts of energy flying across the chamber.

_“Shutting down…it’s not…it’s not shutting down!”_

Strange spots appeared in the corners of his eyes, appearing and disappearing throughout the chamber. Hazy, inhuman figures writhed in the air before vanishing entirely, all white bone and dark flesh. The suit screamed at him, alerting him of cracked ribs and abnormal air pressure.

Gordon tried lifting his head, only to see a massive burst of plasma fly through the observation window. Brief screams on the intercom turned into static, while chunks of steel and reinforced glass flew over his head.

As he watched in horror as Black Mesa collapsed around him, Gordon noticed a thin, black tendril of energy struck his suit, connecting him to the sample. He twisted, desperately clawing at the metal flooring in an attempt to flee, but the tendril only grew thicker and thicker.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was the chamber roof collapsing.

* * *

**9:47 A.M.**

They had barely even gone twenty feet down before the elevator started shaking.

Barney wasn’t too worried. Even if he didn’t know much about these elevators, he knew that if something did break down, it would just lock up in the shaft. They’d have to wait for rescue, but it beat falling to their deaths. Besides, it was probably just another malfunction.

The scientists did not share his sense of confidence. The quiet one clutched his folder tightly, glancing at everything in the elevator in fear. The annoying one was huddled up against the elevator panel, hammering the button for the nearest floor like his life depended on it. It was a little amusing seeing them getting so worked up over something like this.

Then the screaming started.

Barney was expecting a workplace accident when he looked outside the elevator window. Maybe a tram running off the rails, or one of the loader robots knocking over some crates. A tragedy, sure, but something he could help with.

Instead, he saw monsters straight out of his darkest nightmares pop out of thin air. Massive beasts with shattered bone faces and rippling, oily forms dropped into the nearby cargo hub, crushing crates and machinery as they landed. Maintenance workers were torn limb from limb, sending blood and body parts flying. Nearby security guards tried to help, unloading magazine after magazine into the creatures, but the bullets only seemed to annoy their targets.

“Oh my God, what _are_ they?” One of the scientists behind him asked, sounding terrified out of his mind.

“W-we need to get out of here!” The other one screamed, hammering the elevator panel. “Work! Let me out!”

Barney wanted to scream at them to shut up. They should have just stayed quiet, huddled in the elevator until it stopped, and run for safety.

But his attention was caught by a pair of blood-red eyes, staring at him with nothing but hatred and hunger. It didn’t matter the distance that separated them, or the pistol clutched tightly in Barney’s grip. That gaze promised, no matter how long it took, it would catch him.

The elevator shook again, sending Barney flying off his feet. By now, the elevator was sitting at a steep angle, shaking wildly as something screeched above. He locked gazes with the nearby scientists, their eyes seeming to beg him to save them.

He didn’t get the chance to answer them as the elevator finally fell, sending them spiraling into the depths below.


	3. Accidental Discoveries

**9:48 A.M.**

The first thing Gordon saw was grey.

The landscape, the sky, the air itself were all the same neutral color. Endless fields of snow stretched off into the distance, broken by a few shards of jagged ice and obsidian stone. No signs of life were evident, much less anything he could recognize from Black Mesa.

A robotic voice warned him of hazardous temperatures as frost coated his visor, and even underneath the insulation, he could already feel the cold creep into his bones. Gordon tried to step forward, vaguely thinking about finding shelter, only to have his legs sink into the ground. He was completely trapped.

Gordon couldn’t help but panic, clawing wildly at the snow as his thoughts raced. This place wasn’t right. He was supposed to be in New Mexico, in the warm deserts and concrete tunnels of Black Mesa, not an endless tundra! If he could find a landmark, or get a GPS signal, he could call for help, go home, _get_ _out of here-_

A low-pitched, powerful growl stilled his thoughts. Slowly, feeling dread build up in his gut, he turned around. As soon as he saw what had made the noise, he wished that the test had simply killed him instead.

Whatever the creature was, it was gargantuan. Easily fifteen feet tall, the monster was a wall of rippling black muscles and massive bone plates. Its skull was covered in red lines and jutting tusks, spreading onto its spine with a series of brutal spikes. Scattered chunks of ice and snow dotted the surface of the creature, flaking off as it moved.

And it was looking at Gordon with an expression that told of nothing but pain, hatred, and death.

He tried to push himself backwards, away from the rapidly approaching creature, away from the massive leg that was coming down towards his skull-

**_BZZZZZT_ **

And slammed against a wall, causing him to gasp in shock. What the hell just happened?

Glancing around wildly, it seemed like everything had changed. The creature was gone, vanished along with the snow-washed landscape he was just in a moment ago.

Now, Gordon found himself in a massive cave, tunneled out of more of that strange obsidian stone. Shockingly, there were even signs of human activity present; a handful of electric lights dotted the area, casting dim light throughout the area. There were even several pickaxes and drills scattered about, as if tossed randomly by their owners.

But as Gordon looked closer, trying to figure out where this was, he saw something even more concerning.

Crystals dotted the room. Poking out of the floors and walls, and glowing brightly despite the weak electrical lamps, the crystals completely dominated the room. Shining in an entire rainbow of colors, and in a wide variety of sizes, Gordon found himself staring at them in both awe and confusion. It truly was a beautiful sight, but…

But these were the same crystals the labs had been testing for weeks! He recognized those colors, and the rough textures of the samples. This had to be the source for wherever they were finding those crystals, but where the hell was this place? And where did everyone else run off to? If the lighting was functional, they couldn’t have been gone for long.

A part of him couldn’t help but worry that he had found this place at all. Black Mesa was serious about their clearance levels, and something like this was almost certainly beyond what he had been cleared for-

Gordon shook his head. Right. Bigger priorities. He could deal with Administration after he got back to somewhere familiar, and preferably far away from demonic wooly mammoths. Considering the sheer size of that creature, he doubted that even his HEV suit would offer much protection from it.

All he had to do was stand up, look for a tunnel out, and-

**_BZZZZZZT_ **

Fall face first onto a chunk of rubble.

Gordon grimaced as he sat back up, rubbing his helmet. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any fractures or breaches so far. Whatever was happening to him, he didn’t want to be caught in an unfamiliar environment with a compromised HEV suit.

Looking back up, he was greeted with a sight that was both more familiar and more gut-wrenching. He had returned to the test chamber, which was ruined beyond repair. A massive fire was roaring in the center of the anti-mass spectrometer, covering the entire chamber in an orange glow, even as beams of plasma continued to fall from the emitters. Support beams and chunks of steel littered the ground, and the air itself was filled with floating chunks of black crystal. Alarms blared in the background, mixing with the crackling of electrical discharges.

Gordon couldn’t even bring himself to move. How could all of this have happened? Less than ten minutes ago, this part of the facility had been functioning normally! Was it something with the sample, or did the equipment fail somehow? And if the test chamber was like this, then…

Oh. Oh, God. The observation room…if that beam had broken through the window…

He clambered to his feet, finding unsteady footing on the rubble-covered floor. No matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn’t afford to just sit and wait for the damage control teams to arrive. There could still be survivors up there, and with his hazard suit, he was probably the only person who could make it past the plasma to get them.

As he made his way towards the antechamber, he hoped that, as bad as it was, the accident hadn’t affected the rest of the facility.

* * *

**9:52 A.M.**

Barney hadn’t expected to survive.

Between the sudden appearance of bulletproof, man-eating monsters and the elevator falling a good six floors, it would’ve made sense for _something_ to get him. It certainly had gotten a good few people already, from the small glimpse he had caught before being dropped down.

And yet, as he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the crumpled elevator roof instead of the pearly gates. Sure, he hurt like hell. Even if he’d been lucky enough to avoid getting crushed by debris or shanked by rubble, the landing hadn’t been a soft one. But just walking away after a crash like that was a miracle in his books.

The two scientists with him, unfortunately, hadn’t shared his luck. One was curled up in a corner with a broken neck, and even if he couldn’t see the body, he was almost certain the other had been crushed by a massive slab of concrete. They’d probably died quickly, but…they still hadn’t deserved to end up like that. Nobody did.

As soon as he woke up and saw what happened, he’d nearly broken down into tears. What the hell kind of day was it when monsters appeared out of thin air and started killing everyone?! They couldn’t fight something that was bulletproof! And why did those things appear in Sector G, of all places? It was just a hydroelectric dam, for Christ’s sake!

But, somehow, he’d pulled himself together. The situation was bad, but…well, there were protocols for emergencies. He doubted that they were meant for situations like this, but right now, those guidelines were the only things he had to follow. Find other survivors, get to the surface, and wait for rescue to show up. Simple.

Except it wasn’t. Evidently, whatever madness was plaguing the facility had taken a special hatred of Barney. If they had ended up on the ground floor of Sector G, or even one of the intermediate floors, he’d have a straight shot to the stairs topside. But he hadn’t landed there.

He’d landed back in the goddamned maintenance tunnels again.

“Of all the rotten luck.” Barney muttered, glancing out at the nearby tunnels. If anything, these tunnels were even worse than the ones near the Particle Labs. Crates were stacked haphazardly in every direction, making movement a pain. Worse still, the few lights that still worked were flickering like crazy, making it almost impossible to see anything in the inconsistent shadows. Looked creepy as hell, too.

As Barney walked forwards, eyes sweeping every opening he could see, he hoped that those things hadn’t made it down this far. He still had his pistol, which he was clutching for dear life, but that apparently wouldn’t mean much to those monsters. For now, all he could use it for was as a flashlight mount.

Still, even with only vague memories of the facility maps to go off of, he had an idea of how to get to safety. If he was remembering correctly, there was a small hazardous waste storage area nearby with access to the canals. All he had to do was get past the electronic lock and he’d have a straight shot to the surface.

Rounding a corner, Barney was relieved to see that his memories hadn’t failed him. The imposing steel door was right at the end of the corridor. Even better, the lights near it were still functioning! As long as his clearances still worked, he’d be out of there in no-

Barney froze. It was only for a second, but…he could have sworn he’d heard something moving nearby. Not footprints, or boxes moving. More like…something clicking, almost like a typewriter, behind one of the smaller piles of crates. Stranger still, it looked like something was _glowing_ behind those boxes.

Raising his pistol, Barney began walking backwards towards the door, praying that it was just his imagination, or that it was some poor maintenance worker trying to hide. Hell, he’d take a toxic waste spill at this point. Those were much more manageable than some new abomination jumping out of thin air.

All it took was Barney stumbling slightly for his fears to be realized. Rushing out from behind the pile of crates came a horde of the biggest scorpions Barney had ever seen, covered in more of that hideous bone plating. They quickly charged down the hallway towards him, glowing stingers raised and pincers clicking together.

Years of training kicked in as Barney fired, sending round after round towards the creatures while he retreated. The bullets did some damage, creating small cracks in the bone plating and causing the monsters to stumble, but it wasn’t enough. They were gaining ground, and he was running out of ammo. He needed to run.

The second his back touched the door, Barney switched his focus, hammering his passcode into the electronic lock and begging for it to not malfunction. Incredibly, the machine accepted the code, opening the door and allowing Barney to jump into the next room. Once inside, he grabbed the handle and pulled, watching as the monochrome horde marched closer and closer to the doorway-

But he was fast enough. The door swung closed with a satisfying _click_ , trapping the creatures on the other side. Catching his breath, Barney chuckled hysterically. He’d done it! Even if bullets hadn’t done the trick, he’d gotten away, safe and sound!

_thudthudthud **thudthudthud**_

Barney flinched as a cacophony of bangs echoed from the steel door, powerful enough to send tremors through the floor. The door was holding, thankfully, but Barney didn’t care. If those things had already found a way down to this level, they could find a way into the room.

Whatever was happening in Black Mesa, it was above his paygrade. All he could do was get to safety and wait for the military to arrive.

* * *

**9:54 A.M.**

He wasn’t prepared.

Even with the damage to the test chamber, he’d thought that everyone else might be fine. The anti-mass spectrometer was designed to handle these kinds of forces. At worst, even with the damage to the observation room, the rest of the facility should have been protected by the steel paneling.

And yet, as he stepped past the antechamber, Gordon came face to face with the first corpse he’d ever seen.

It was the security guard that monitored the exterior hallway. Gordon could never remember his name, but he’d interacted with him practically every week. Every test, before and after, they’d say their usual greetings, talking about going out to a bar crawl with Barney that they inevitably failed to go to. It was a nice, comfortable ritual with a friendly face.

And now said face was lying on the floor with three inches of steel shrapnel sticking out of his skull, all because something hadn’t gone as planned.

The guard wasn’t the only one. At least three or four other bodies were lying on the path to the elevator, bleeding out onto the concrete or crushed under pieces of debris and equipment. Out of everyone that he had passed on the way to the test chamber this morning, only a single scientist remained standing, desperately performing chest compressions on one of her fallen coworkers.

Gordon wanted to vomit. This wasn’t what he had trained for. None of them had been trained for something like this! They were just researchers!

Gordon had to fight to keep from panicking, repeating mantras softly to himself to try and keep his mind focused. He wasn’t even quite sure what he was saying. It could have been a prayer, or reassurances, or even just the shutdown procedures he’d never get to enact. It was constant, it was consistent, and it helped keep his mind off the fact that he was stepping in puddles of his coworkers’ blood.

By the time he got to the elevator, though, his mind started to act up again. Had anyone survived upstairs? Was the route to the exit still clear? Did anyone even know what had happened?

And yet, as the elevator reached the next floor, his worst fears weren’t realized. Somehow, despite the catastrophic damage to the rest of the room, Kleiner and Eli were still alive, huddling together against that same damaged computer from ten minutes ago. It took them several moments to notice him, but when they did, they were completely dumbfounded.

“My goodness! You’re alive!” Kleiner shouted, jumping to his feet.

“Gordon! Thank God for that hazard suit!” Eli said, doing the same. “After what happened, we didn’t think that…”

“You _are_ okay, yes? Do…do you need medical assistance?” Kleiner asked.

Gordon waved them off, smiling underneath his helmet. Despite whatever had happened to him during the accident, aside from a few bruises, he was fine. And, to his relief, Kleiner and Eli didn’t appear to be injured either.

Eli sighed, rubbing his head. “It’s a mess, Gordon. All the phone lines are down. We can’t get in contact with anyone from here. I hate to ask this, but…well, with your suit, you’re the only one that can move safely around here. You need to get to the surface and let someone know we’re stranded down here.”

Gordon wanted to protest. If the situation down here really was that bad, shouldn’t they wait for the damage control teams to arrive? Something on this scale couldn’t have gone unnoticed by the rest of the facility-

**_BZZZZZT_ **

All three scientists twisted around, startled by the sudden noise. In one of the energy displacement cells, another ball of black energy had materialized, obscuring the entire interior. After a few moments, the cloud of energy dissipated, leaving behind-

“What…what on Earth?” Kleiner muttered, staring in awe at the container.

Left behind in the cell was a small, winged creature, fluttering around in confusion. The entire body was covered with bony protrusions, ranging from visible ribs to a full faceplate, covered in tiny red markings. Its jaw, while small, was filled with dozens of long, extended teeth, locking together as the creature opened and closed its jaws.

It didn’t take long for the creature to see them. As soon as its gaze landed on Kleiner, the creature began moving around the cell, scratching at the glass and letting out piercing shrieks. The glass shook fiercely in its mounting but, thankfully, kept from shattering.

“My God. What have we done?” Eli muttered, staring in horror at the cage. Kleiner didn’t respond, approaching the container with naked curiosity and excitement.

Gordon simply watched on in shock and confusion. What kind of creature even was that? It was like some sort of malformed, evil bat, specifically grown to look terrifying. Then there was the bone mask…wasn’t that similar to…

…The wooly mammoth was real. It wasn’t a figment of his imagination after all. And if more of these creatures were coming to Black Mesa through those portals, then…oh, God.

“This way, Gordon. I’ll let you out.” Eli said, still eyeing the creature warily. Gordon nodded, following closely behind him. Walking through the observation room may be dangerous, but they needed to send a message out as quickly as possible. Otherwise, their rescuers would have no idea what sort of danger they were walking into.

* * *

**9:57 A.M.**

“I’m telling you, man, you’re just not getting it.”

“Then explain it to me.” Adrian said. “Please. Enlighten me.”

“You hear, all your life, that giraffes have long necks to reach the leaves at the tops of trees.” Tomas continued, waving his arms dramatically. “But do they ever tell you what they did _before_ they were like that?”

“…Eat from bushes instead?”

“They were carnivores, Adrian. Carnivores. Their appearance now is meant to get peoples’ guards down. And it worked. Everyone’s convinced that they’re all nice and peaceful, when really, they’re just waiting for the right time to strike.” Tomas concluded, leveling a completely serious look at him.

Adrian shook his head, chuckling. Tomas was a fucking weirdo most of the time, but at least his stories were entertaining. Occasionally even made you question your sanity a bit. It certainly beat most of the other activities that Santego offered for the Marines on-station.

And at the moment, that amounted to a grand total of fuck-all. They had been spending the past month drilling their asses off, being told that they were being prepped for a deployment in the near future, and generally not knowing what to expect.

All that tension, all that training, and now they got to sit around in the barracks waiting for something to happen. Whoopee.

Adrian didn’t doubt that _something_ was going on. He’d heard some of the rumors talking about the gear being stockpiled on the base. People were whispering about platoons of Abrams, dozens of APCs, and enough ammo and explosives to wipe out Albuquerque being shipped in. And that wasn’t even getting into all the helicopters and VTOLs flying around lately. To Adrian, it sounded like they were preparing to mobilize the entire HECU.

Then there were the stories about that Black Mesa place floating around. For the past few days, it had been nothing but ‘Black Mesa’ this, ‘Black Mesa’ that, yadda yadda yadda. Adrian knew that the place had something to do with the new PCVs that were rolling out, but beyond that, he’d never had to care before.

But he knew better than to believe what some of the rumors were saying. If they were going anywhere near Black Mesa, it was probably just some training exercise. Hell, maybe it was some sort of joint research project, testing out the new armor systems in live conditions. He’d certainly love to see just what his PCV was capable of in a real fight.

“And that’s just the giraffes.” Tomas continued. “They’re rough, sure, but we’ve got a chance against them. What we’ve _really_ got to look out for are the-”

The sharp shrill of an alarm cut Tomas off, making everyone scramble to their feet. Tomas looked upset, but Adrian couldn’t bring himself to care that much about whatever animal uprising was about to happen. Glancing around the barracks, Adrian knew that everyone was thinking the exact same thing.

Whatever they had been preparing for, it was finally time to get some action.

* * *

**9:59 A.M.**

Barney’s luck could act in mysterious ways at times.

On the one hand, he’d gotten his wish. Despite his paranoia, no more mobs of demon scorpions had shown up. They’d been banging on the steel door non-stop, but despite a few small dents, the door was holding up just fine. As long as he high tailed it somewhere else soon, those things would never catch up.

On the other hand, someone had spilled toxic waste all over the floor. At least a few barrels of the stuff had leaked out of their containers, covering a massive portion of the room in deadly chemicals. There was a chance his shoes would protect him from that kind of hazard, but considering the kind of day it had been so far, he didn’t want to risk it.

It had taken him a few minutes of jumping and fancy footwork to make it safely across, but he’d managed to keep his feet clean. From there, he’d made his way past a few shelves, went out the side door-

And was completely floored when he found the other scientist from the elevator, sitting down in the hallway and cowering. In fact, the second Barney showed up, the man almost started running off again, screaming about a ‘resonance cascade’, whatever the hell that was.

Barney had many questions, such as how the scientist had survived that crash or gotten past the waste, but the man was reluctant to answer them. His eyes kept darting around, looking at the vents as if something was going to pop out of them at any moment. Knowing that he was probably right only ruined Barney’s mood further.

But then he dropped the real bombshell.

“You want to _what_?”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine here.” The scientist said, huddling closer against the wall. “I doubt the surface will be any safer than down here.”

“You…just…you can’t be serious.” Barney said, rubbing his temples. “Those creatures are right outside the door back there. They’re gonna get through eventually, and I’d rather be far away when that happens.”

“I-I know that!” The scientist stuttered. “But…i-it’s just…I have my doubts about what we’ll find up there.”

“Ideally the military.” Barney rolled his eyes.

“T-that’s not a good thing!” The scientist yelled, quickly shrinking back down afterwards. “I-I’ve heard rumors. About what’s been going on in the other parts of the facility.”

“What the hell does that have to do with any of this?” Barney asked. Unless they were growing more of those creatures here, he really couldn’t see how it could get any worse.

“Those experiments…they’re not things the government would want to be made public.” The scientist muttered, clutching his head. Poor bastard looked like he was on the verge of breaking down. “Go through the canals if you must, but…just be careful. A-And don’t tell anyone I’m down here! No matter what you say, I refuse to go to the surface!”

Barney sighed. He really, _really_ didn’t want to, but…it wasn’t like he could just drag the scientist up to the surface, kicking and screaming as he was. “…Fine. But at the very least, figure out a better place to hold up. That door’s not going to hold those things back forever.”

The scientist only seemed to shrink down further with those words, curling up on the floor and sobbing. It was probably a bad idea to leave the guy here, but…well, what the hell was he supposed to do? If it was a normal emergency, he’d just try to carry him out. With those creatures around, though…

Barney shrugged, standing back up. If he couldn’t convince the guy to leave himself, then he’d just tell the military about the situation once he got topside. Rumors or not, staying down here was suicide.

* * *

**10:09 A.M.**

The rest of the testing facility had been in just as horrible a shape as the test chamber.

Running through the observation room had been bad enough. Stray bolts of plasma has still been flying through the window, obliterating servers and computers in fiery explosions. Gordon had somehow managed to dodge his way through, but…the red stains splattered on the floor implied the scientists stationed there hadn’t been so lucky.

The hallways after that were yet another nightmare. Massive fires had spread throughout the complex, engulfing entire offices and blocking parts of the walkway. Some sections of the walls and flooring had been damaged by explosions or pipe ruptures, leaving gaping holes that he had to watch out for.

All the while, signs of carnage were everywhere. Bloodstains were splattered across every room, with mangled corpses tossed around in every corner. That had been Havenstein leaning against a shattered monitor, bleeding out on his workstation. Berger’s office had been turned into a raging inferno, a charred corpse lying halfway out the window. And then Hodge, and the laser beam…

If he didn’t have his helmet on, Gordon wasn’t sure if he could handle walking through the bloodbath. As it was, the fact that he couldn’t smell the fumes and gore was the only comfort he had.

He’d made it to the elevator to the main level just in time to see it fall down the shaft, screams echoing from it as it crashed. More sounds added to the chorus of flames, emergency announcements, and shattering glass. Gordon had glanced down, hoping that they might be alright, but the collapsed, burning hulk below had shattered that idea.

Gordon shuddered, clutching his shoulders. If hadn’t been teleported out of the test chamber…if that debris had fallen a few inches closer to him…

…He needed to get out of here. Someone needed to make sure the damage control teams arrived, and right now, he was the only one who could move around. Until Kleiner and Eli were safe, he’d have to hold off the mental breakdown.

Looking around the elevator shaft, he noticed that the emergency ladder was still in one piece. Given the damage to the rest of the facility, that already felt like a miracle. Gripping onto the rungs, he slowly started to climb up.

Just as he was about to reach the next floor, he heard it. Outside the shaft, gunshots rapidly rang out, mixed in with human screams and inhuman roars. The worst had happened. More of those creatures had gotten into the rest of Sector C.

Peeking over the edge only confirmed those fears. The corpse of a guard had been left near the elevator doors, torn in half and heavily mauled. On the walls, he could make out deep claw marks, scratched into the concrete itself. Whatever was rampaging up there, it was _big_. Worse still, it was powerful enough to take out armed security guards.

But if Gordon wanted to get out, he had to follow this path. It was horrifying to consider, but unless he went back and hid with Eli and Kleiner, he had to get to the tram platform. There was simply no other way out.

Climbing up on the platform, Gordon took the chance to peek around the corners. He couldn’t see anything nearby, living or dead, and the sounds of combat seemed to be moving further away. That probably meant that the tram platform was a deathtrap, but for now, it meant that he could move around freely.

Sadly, when he went to pick up the guard’s pistol, he couldn’t find it. The creature must have gotten rid of it along with the guard’s arms. He moved on before he could dwell on that fact for too long.

The rest of the corridor proved to be just as disturbing. Scattered corpses and body parts littered the hallway, staining the concrete walls red. Offices alongside the corridor had been completely trashed, with their windows utterly shattered and their equipment torn apart. Even the lights themselves were destroyed, forcing him to rely on his suit’s flashlight and a handful of emergency flares left burning along the way.

As he walked on, the screams and gunshots became less and less frequent, replaced by those terrible inhuman growls. The further he went, the closer those growls got.

By the time he reached the server room door, the last human screams had died out completely. However, the growling of that creature had also quieted down, moving off towards the locker rooms instead of the lobby. If he could sneak past and get through the security checkpoint to the tram platform, he would be safe. Those thick steel doors would keep anything short of a nuke out.

He turned around the corner, hoping to see an empty lobby and a clear path to the exit. Instead, he saw a massive, shadowy monster, chewing away at some poor guard’s corpse right in front of the blast door. The creature was yet another variant, with some sort of furry coat, a wolf-like skull, and claws the size of Gordon’s hand.

Gordon cursed. Unless he could get that creature to move somewhere else in the facility, he was trapped. He could run back and hide with the other survivors, but unless the rescue teams arrived with heavy weapons, they’d just end up meeting the same fate as his former coworkers.

…Wait. If this creature was here, then what was that growling from the locker rooms?

Just as Gordon thought that, he made out the sound of heavy footsteps from behind him, stomping closer rapidly. Whatever was approaching, it would find him in seconds. He couldn’t move forward, he couldn’t go back…

Crawling off to the side, Gordon quickly found what he was looking for. There was a vent between the lobby and the server room. It wasn’t long, only about four or five feet in length, but it would be enough to get him away from certain death. Even better, the vent covers were already off, lying on the floor in pieces. All he had to do was crawl for his life.

And not a moment too soon. The second he went into the vent, the second creature stomped into the lobby, growling furiously. Moments later, the monster was clawing wildly at the vent entrance, causing it to vibrate furiously and filling the air with dust. If he had stayed outside, he would have been ground to pieces.

But he’d made it. Dropping down into the server room, Gordon couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He’d have to get moving soon, but…for now, he was safe. Despite everything that had happened, despite the monstrosities roaming the facility, he was still alive.

As he fell backwards, though, his hand brushed against something odd. Looking over, Gordon was surprised to see a crowbar lying nearby, left lying near an abandoned toolbox. It wouldn’t do anything to hurt the creatures outside, but…well, it would be useful for getting into more of the vents. And, if nothing else, it’d probably be enough to fend off more of those bat-like creatures, if they showed up again.

Gordon groaned, slowly getting back to his feet. He needed to look for another way to the surface before those creatures found a way in. The tram platform was a bust, but there had to be a way out somewhere. He’d crawl through all the vents in Black Mesa if he had to.


	4. Shifting Strategies

**10:16 A.M.**

Gordon had never been in Sector B before.

He'd tried, once or twice when he'd first been hired and was still figuring out where everything was. The security checkpoint had stopped him every time, the dour-faced guard telling him he lacked the proper clearance. It had seemed silly that that the people handling classified exotic matter couldn't be trusted around tanks of industrial coolant, but he'd had more important things to focus on at the time.

Now, that same dour-faced guard was lying against a concrete wall, missing both of his legs and covered in massive cuts. The checkpoint he'd given his life to defend was now a ruined collection of twisted steel and shattered glass. Judging from the shards of debris, whatever had taken the guard's life had charged in from the other side, moving towards the offices and labs afterwards.

Gordon tried not to look too closely at the corpse as he walked past. As disturbing a thought as it was, he had more important issues to worry about. He was probably going to have a mental breakdown at some point, but first, he needed to find a way to the surface. The path back to the labs was blocked off by a massive pile of rubble, and given the creatures back there, he was quite thankful for that. Unless there was some hidden ventilation shaft directly to the surface, the only other choice he had was to go through Sector B and look for an exit.

The interior of this new area was different from that of Sector C. While the walls of his usual workplace were made of plain, featureless concrete, this new area of the facility was covered from wall to wall in metal panels and steel tubing. Several liquid nitrogen storage containers, thankfully still intact, were near the center of the room, filling the area with a soft hum.

In fact, a surprising amount of the equipment was still intact. The steel grating on the walls only had a few scratches and dents, none of the pipes were ruptured…compared to the ruins of Sector C, it almost felt normal. Like it was still just another workday instead of the complete collapse of Black Mesa.

But he couldn't afford to let his guard down. As much as he hoped otherwise, odds were good that there were more of those creatures hiding out down here, and all he had to defend himself with was a glorified metal stick. The weight of the crowbar was certainly comforting, but after seeing what was left of the security team, he doubted it would help his odds of surviving. At best, maybe he'd be able to throw it as a distraction.

And yet, despite his paranoia, Gordon couldn't find anything nearby. He'd heard footsteps at one point, but when he looked up at the catwalks, there was nothing there. It could have been a scientist or guard trying to hide. It could also be some new eldritch monstrosity about to leap down on top of him. Either way, he had no intention of going up to find out.

After a few moments, Gordon arrived at another hallway, branching off around a corner and coming across something that he wished _was_ damaged: an automatic security grate, completely covering the path further into the facility. It was solid, too. Steel bars an inch thick, layered in a square grid pattern than was too small for him to crawl through.

Even worse, Gordon couldn't find another way out. All of the ventilation shafts were too high up for him to access without a ladder, and there wasn't a security terminal by the grate. There were a few trapdoors in the floor, in front of and behind the grate, but the 'Coolant Pipe Access' labels and hazard warnings plastered across them made him reluctant to enter.

That left one option; backtrack, look for a security office, and find a way to open the grate there. Every sector had at least one security office in it, so it had to be close by.

Gordon still hesitated. The more he walked around, the more likely he was to run into more of those creatures. And there was still the question of what had made those footsteps. However, unless he wanted to spend time looking for a ladder or an acetylene torch, there wasn't another option.

Reluctantly, Gordon turned back, moving towards some of the side doors he'd ignored. While still monster-free, most of them were simply supply closets or storage rooms for natural gas canisters. Eventually, he managed to find one with a ladder inside. A few moments later, he found the courage to start climbing it.

And, at the end of the catwalks, he saw what he was looking for. The security room was right at the end of the hallway, with its big steel security door and cracked, blood-splattered window-

…Oh. Oh, that wasn't good.

Biting back a curse, Gordon paused. He needed to get inside the office, but if whatever had gotten the guards was still in there, he wouldn't be able to do much besides run away. The glass was only cracked, not shattered like the other windows had been. But then again, he couldn't hear any growling…and it was possible those footsteps from before had been a guard…

He'd just peek through the window. The other creatures hadn't noticed him at first, so if he was silent, he should be safe. Hopefully. Worst case scenario, he'd dive into the coolant pipes and hope his HEV suit could take the shock.

Glancing into the room, Gordon tried to make out what he could through the cracks and the blood. Some of what he could see was encouraging, such as a control panel and a weapons rack, laden with a pistol and several magazines. The rest of it was less so, with a mangled corpse lying in the center of the room and a blown-out ventilation shaft in one of the walls.

Not good, but manageable. All he needed to do was work quickly, and he could leave without being detected. Moving over towards the security console, Gordon entered his credentials-

" _Access: Denied."_

And blinked at the robotic voice. Right. He wasn't actually authorized to be in this sector. Even then, you needed to be part of the security team or a senior researcher to be allowed into a security office. How was he supposed to…

The glass was already heavily cracked. He still had his crowbar. Property damage appeared to be the only solution, as strange a thought as that was.

With a handful of swings, the reinforced glass finally shattered, collapsing into dozens of shards. Gordon flinched at the loud _crash_ the glass made, but it couldn't be helped. All he could do was hurry up and unlock the gate before something showed up to investigate.

However, despite himself, his eyes were drawn to the weapon rack. The pistol and ammo sat there, taunting him with promises of superior firepower. To his astonishment, there was even something more powerful sitting just beneath them: actual, military-grade hand grenades. It was probably a bad idea to keep something like that around nitrogen storage tanks, but against the creatures, those could be _very_ useful.

Gordon grabbed as much of it as he could, stuffing magazines and grenades into his suit's storage compartment. His suit started listing the weapons and ammo he'd acquired in its normal monotone, but he ignored that, focusing on the pistol. These guns hadn't helped the guards much, but…well, it was a gun. Even if he didn't use it, the fact he had it in a situation like this was comforting.

He was armed, he was alive, and he had a plan. That was more than he was expecting out of all this. Smiling despite himself, Gordon turned around-

Only to see one of those bat-like creatures watching him, staring from the ventilation shaft. The second he noticed it, the creature let out a sharp, ear-piercing screech, splitting the air and making Gordon's ears bleed. He fired several shots at the creature in return, sending sparks flying from the metal ductwork. One of the rounds must have hit it, causing a burst of black smoke to emerge from its torso and sending it falling back through the vent.

Although finally fighting off one of these creatures was cathartic, he couldn't afford to stay here. If one of those creatures had found him, others would as well.

Gordon looked back at the security console. Thankfully, the controls were well-labeled, and finding the switch for the section lockdown was simple. It only took a second to flip it back off, unlocking the remaining doors and corridors in the sector.

Not that Gordon cared, sprinting back towards the catwalks. All that mattered was making it out of this sector before more of those creatures arrived.

* * *

**10:23 A.M.**

As Barney walked through the tunnels, sweeping at the shadows with his flashlight, he started to plan for what to do after he escaped the facility.

First on the list, of course, was a nice, cold beer. Several of them, preferably with a few close friends. Just sitting back, relaxing, and trying to not think about all the impossible things he'd witnessed so far today. It would help when the inevitable tidal wave of NDAs started rolling in from the government.

Next up was job hunting. Somehow, he doubted that things would go back to normal after the military cleaned up this mess. Even if Black Mesa didn't shut down completely, it would still take a while before the facility started to run at full capacity again. It never hurt to have a temp job in the meantime, and there were always openings for security guards.

And finally, there was tracking down whoever designed Black Mesa and shooting them. Repeatedly.

At a minimum, he was going to kill the person who was responsible for these older maintenance tunnels. Rickety steel grates over twenty-foot drops, lighting systems that just did not work, missing navigational signs, and a complete lack of railings were only the tip of the iceberg. If the monsters didn't get the administrator first, OSHA would be right on his trail.

Not that an impending workplace safety lawsuit made him feel any better about roaming through what felt like endless crawlspaces and tunnels. Worse still, half of the pathways were blocked with piles upon piles of crates and containers. Why nobody had bothered to move this crap, he would likely never know.

The fact that he could glimpse and hear _something_ going on nearby didn't help his attitude. It had only happened a couple of times, but whatever it was, it was noisy. Like the crackling of electricity near a big transformer, multiplied ten times over. It might've just been the electrical system acting up, but Barney wasn't so sure about that.

But, like it or not, this was still the main path to the canal. From there, all he needed to do was head up the cargo elevator, and he'd practically be at the freight yard. Piece of cake.

…Okay, he was probably going to die horribly. But it wasn't just like he could just lie down and accept that. He'd already beaten the odds by making it this far, and unless he wanted to curl up and wait for the end like that scientist, he had to keep going further.

It was just a shame that he couldn't use any of the road tunnels going through the place. Each one he'd come across had been sealed up tight with massive metal covers, and he couldn't find any way to raise them back up. They were probably some emergency feature in case the dam broke down, but it certainly made evacuation more difficult. Without those, he'd have been at the surface already.

Thankfully, after what felt like hours of wandering, Barney came across what he was looking for: a trapdoor labeled 'Canal Access'. He bent down, lifting the door and peering inside.

Or at least trying to. Somehow, the canals below were even less welcoming than the rest of the maintenance tunnels. The room was pitch-black, and moving his flashlight around revealed nothing but rusty metal floors, crumbling concrete walls, and old steel piping. Barney could even make out the sounds of rushing water from further ahead, powerful enough to drown out everything else.

Did…did he really have to go through there? There were supposed to be emergency exits near the canals in case of flooding, but…that was asking a bit much. It was the perfect place for those creatures to hide, with all those shadowy corners and nooks.

_cla_ _**clang** _

The sharp banging of falling metal made Barney flinch. Twisting around, he saw what he had been fearing the entire walk: the nearby ventilation shafts, with their grates knocked open and blood-red eyes staring at him from within. Already, a few of those damned scorpions were crawling out of the walls, snapping their pincers menacingly.

The choice had been made for him. Praying that there weren't any serial killers ahead, Barney lifted open the hatch and jumped inside, slamming it closed behind him.

* * *

**10:29 A.M.**

There was no other way to go.

Gordon had looked. Everywhere past the security grate, he'd searched for an elevator, or stairs, or even an emergency ladder leading towards the surface. Surely, in a place like Black Mesa, there had to be at least _something_.

But there hadn't been anything. All the other doors along his route had either been locked or malfunctioned, unable to open fully. Given some of the sounds he'd heard behind a few of those doors, he was disinclined to investigate further.

All that was left to him was a massive freight elevator leading deeper into the facility, overseen by another locked security office. A small part of him remembered that the lower canals were down that way. A much larger part of him was screaming that he shouldn't be heading further underground, he should be heading for the surface.

It was probably suicidal. A machine that size would make tremendous noise, and from just a small glance down the shaft, the trip would be a long one. Possibly even minutes, depending on how slow the elevator was. If any creatures were nearby, they'd swarm all over him.

Unless he felt like jumping, it was still his best chance of survival.

Gripping his pistol and crowbar tightly, Gordon stepped onto the platform. It was large. Useful for bringing supplies and coolant up to the labs, although it was empty at the moment. Now it simply offered a satisfactory amount of space to maneuver. On the other side of the platform, there was only a simple switch, with directional arrows lit up in fluorescent green.

Gordon frowned, reluctantly pressing the switch. Down was the only option he had left.

Immediately after he did so, the entire room erupted in noise and bright lights. Warning bulbs covered the walls in spinning reds as an alert claxon filled the air. The platform shook, moving deeper into the depths of the facility at a snail's pace. It was too noisy, too bright, too noticeable.

And yet, for the first few feet, everything seemed fine. None of the vents were blowing open, there were no swarms of creatures falling from the edge. For a moment, it seemed like he might make it down safely.

_**BZZZZZT** _

But then that damnable electrical _snap_ rang out once more, drawing his attention back to the top of the ramp.

Whatever this new monstrosity was, it was massive. Bear-like, with bone spurs jutting out across its limbs and more pronounced red markings on its skull. Two crimson eyes glared hatefully at him, while massive fangs ground together in anticipation.

The second he saw the creature, Gordon knew what was about to happen. He raised his pistol, hoping he might be able to fend it off, but it was too late. It tensed up, leaping over the ledge with a bloodcurdling howl. Faster than Gordon could watch, it had already landed on the elevator, knocking him off his feet and causing the entire machine to buckle.

Landing on his side, Gordon tried to climb back up, only to find himself sliding towards the edge. The elevator had been knocked off its mounting, causing it to tilt at a horrific angle. He tried to find a handhold, something to keep him from falling to his death-

His eye caught a nearby railing, hanging by a raised platform. Another security office, this one overseeing the loading bay below. It was still fairly far away and approaching quickly. Unfortunately, there was no other option left.

Rolling over onto his side, Gordon reached out towards the railing. One of his hands managed to catch it, clamping onto the steel piping with all the strength and desperation he had. His arm screamed in exertion, but he kept his grip. Swinging his legs onto the railing, he fell over, landing in a heap onto metal grating.

Behind Gordon, the rest of the elevator fell apart. Breaking off from the rails, the platform tilted even further, falling down the rest of the shaft with a deafening crash. Dust and sparks filled the air, blinding him and forcing him to cover his eyes.

For a few moments, Gordon remained motionless on the catwalk. All he could do was groan and breathe, waiting for his heart to stop pounding. He simply laid in a crumpled heap, breathing heavily and watching the dust and smoke settle.

After a while, he started to make out what remained of the freight elevator. Massive slabs of metal littered the floor, with destroyed crates and shelving units scattered in their wake. Chunks of concrete fell down from the shaft and the ceiling, adding onto the pile. For a moment, Gordon dared to hope. Maybe a fall like that would be enough to kill one of those creatures.

Furious roars from the rubble pile dashed those aspirations. Clawed limbs emerged from the wreckage, sending scrap metal and chunks of rubble crashing across the room. Soon enough, those same scarlet eyes appeared once more, seeming to stare at him with even greater hatred.

"Oh, _shit_!"

Gordon glanced down. There was still a technician down in the loading bay, watching the destruction in horror. Seeing the creature rise back up, the worker quickly turned and sprinted away, disappearing down the hallway. The monster glanced back at Gordon, growling spitefully, before turning away and chasing its new prey.

He had survived, all because someone else was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But…what could he _do_? That creature was strong enough to destroy an industrial freight elevator! Even with his suit, something that strong would be able to tear him to pieces!

…And because of his inaction, another member of the Black Mesa staff wouldn't be going home.

Gordon clutched his head, leaning back against the steel door. His arms felt like they had nearly been wrenched out of their sockets, the HEV suit was droning about mechanical strain, and he had nearly died twice in the last half hour. As much as he hated himself for it, he needed to stop for a moment. Otherwise, the stress alone would kill him.

* * *

**10:32 A.M.**

This was a trap.

Everything about it screamed trap. The single pathway through a long concrete corridor, the tall ceilings and numerous vent shafts, the obvious bait at the end…Barney was tempted to just leave it well alone and go about looking for a new exit. He just knew, the second he went for it, he'd be drowning in scorpions.

But whoever had set the bait had done a damned fine job. It wasn't just the fact that the closest emergency exit was at the end of it, or the fact that he could literally see the sunlight shining down from up ahead.

It was the fact that, somehow, a shotgun had ended up all the way over in this section of the facility. The weapon was laying right at the end of the corridor, taunting him.

Judging by the bloodstains and gouges in the concrete, it was self-explanatory what happened to the previous owner. Whatever had come through here before must have been big, mean, and bulletproof, just like the other monsters. Against the creatures that were bigger than a vending machine, it might not do the job. But against smaller ones…like, say, a horde of chitin-coated nightmares…

Well, he could hardly be blamed for wanting an upgrade, and twelve-gauge was a hell of an improvement from nine-millimeter. Besides, depending on when the military arrived, he might need to hold his position for a while. If it was on his way out anyways…

"…What the hell." Barney sighed. "You only live once, right?"

And so, Barney began moving down the corridor, checking the vents for movement constantly. All the while, he swore he could hear the light tapping of feet against sheet metal or glimpse that same haunting glow from the vents.

But despite his paranoia, nothing happened. Nothing jumped out from the vents or charged him from behind. He made it safely to the end of the corridor, looking up to find-

"…You've gotta be kidding me…"

The ladder to the surface was broken. The upper half of it was fine, and even reached all the way to the surface intact. Unfortunately for him, the bottom rungs had been broken off, leaving several unclimbable feet between him and safety.

This wasn't fair. He could _see_ safety, damn it! The surface was _just_ out of reach, taunting him with that beautiful, cloudless sky so far above.

"I swear, this day just keeps getting worse and worse." Barney groaned. He was sure there were still other exits to the surface around, but that meant more backtracking, more frustration, and more scorpions. It also meant getting closer to the canal, which would keep him from hearing any threats approach.

Well, at least this trip hadn't been completely useless. Reaching down, Barney took a closer look at his consolation prize. Aside from a few conspicuous bloodstains, it seemed functional enough. Pump-action, with a quick check revealing it was still loaded. Perfect for all his demon-banishing needs.

Or most of them, at any rate. It hadn't helped the last poor bastard to use it, judging by the lack of monster corpses and the random bloodstains. If he wasn't careful, he'd end up the same way.

_cla_ _**clang** _

"Come on, not again!" Barney shouted, swinging around. Sure enough, the vent covers had been broken behind him, revealing those same chilling, blood-red eyes from before.

Barney didn't hesitate. Taking a second to aim, he quickly fired a shell at the closest creature's face, causing a burst of dark smoke to erupt from the vent. The loud noise and confined space made his ears ring, but he swore he could hear that creature shriek in pain on top of it all. Turns out these little bastards weren't immune to buckshot.

Racking the shotgun, Barney quickly moved his sights on the next opening, firing at another scorpion. The scorpion still managed to survive, albeit with its shell heavily cracked and several of its eyes destroyed. The third shell finished it off, caving its skull in. Within moments, its body started to break apart into dark ash, making Barney blink in surprise. What the hell kinds of creatures were these?

But, as strange as a sight as that was, he couldn't afford to stay and watch. Another scorpion was already taking its place, snapping angrily at him with its pincers. At the other vent opening, the first scorpion had finally dropped through, landing on the concrete with a deep _thunk_. The horde was attacking, and he didn't know how much ammo his shotgun had.

Running back towards the canal, Barney couldn't help but grin. These things weren't invincible after all. Even if he couldn't hunt the big ones yet, he'd evened the playing field against the scorpions, and that was good enough for now.

* * *

**10:39 A.M.**

It had taken a while for Gordon to leave his temporary sanctuary.

He'd tried to rationalize waiting, as terrible as some of the reasoning was. The creature would move further away, he was regaining his strength, there wasn't an easy way to get to the floor from where he was…

And the longer he waited, the less likely it was he would have to see another person die.

But that reasoning wasn't enough to just lie in a pile of shame and exhaustion. More of those creatures would show up eventually, and there wouldn't be any convenient maintenance workers to draw their ire.

Thinking like that made Gordon want to vomit. Sadly, he couldn't deny the underlying truth: the sooner he continued his trek to the surface, the less likely he was to get stranded underground. Resonance cascades, while not fully understood, were believed to be long-term phenomena if steps weren't taken to correct it. More portals would appear, and more creatures with them.

As such, he'd taken the leap from the ledge, falling a good twenty feet onto solid concrete. The HEV suit took the brunt of the impact, even if his legs felt like someone took a sledgehammer to them. More messages about minor damage filled his helmet, but Gordon ignored those. Without a repair station, he couldn't do anything about those problems.

Moving towards the hallway, he'd barely had to round the corner before finding more evidence of the creature's rampage. The remains of a metal catwalk jutted out over a massive pit, beckoning towards a hundred-foot leap. It must have snapped under the creature's weight. Hopefully it hadn't taken the technician with it.

That left him with the choice of leaping over the abyss, likely falling to his death, or climbing over the nearby pipework to reach the other side. From there, he could either jump to the other half of the tunnel or take his luck in the vents.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. The Black Mesa ventilation system was quite comfortable. Miles of ductwork ran around the facility, bringing fresh air and a cool breeze hundreds of feet underground. Most of this ductwork was large enough to crawl through, and there were plenty of nooks and crannies to sit around in. It was the perfect place to hide from annoying coworkers or work on papers.

But that sense of safety had been stripped away. Those creatures had already gotten into the vents in Sector B, and he had no doubt they would spread quickly. If he wasn't lucky, he'd end up running face-first into one of those monsters.

…It was still safer than trying to leap for the other hallway. All he could do was hope that, should anything appear, his current arsenal would be enough to fend it off.

* * *

**10:43 A.M.**

The control room was, without a doubt, the best thing Barney had seen all day.

For once, it was an area of the maintenance tunnels and canals that looked clean and well-maintained. Fluorescent lights cast the whole room in a bright glow, and the machinery was free of rust or dents. Nearby cabinets were stocked with medical supplies, emergency flares, and even ammunition. All that was missing was the mini-fridge and a couch. It was almost enough to make him consider staying put and waiting for rescue to arrive. He would have, were it not for the view from the window.

A freight elevator, just on the other side of the canal. Barney was pretty sure he even knew where it led up to. This area had to be close to the freight yard, and if that was the case, he'd be right next to the train platforms. If that was the case, then he'd probably be one of the first people to see the military arrive by going topside. As beautiful as his newly acquired shotgun was, he would feel a lot better with soldiers between him and these eldritch horrors.

It would have been nice if there was a bridge leading over the canal, but alas, Black Mesa had failed him once more. He'd have to crawl around the catwalks and pipes some more to reach it, but it didn't look like that far of a walk. The fresh buckshot in his weapon would take care of anything else that showed up.

Grinning, Barney walked over to the security console, activating the elevator. Thankfully, the old girl started right up, klaxons wailing and emergency lights flashing yellow as the lift descended. He watched it approach, foot after foot-

…God _damn_ it.

All thoughts of escape were dashed as the platform came into view, revealing its passenger. Another massive abomination was riding the lift down, covered in bony protrusions and red lines. More wolf-like than the others, the creature was idly laying around, glancing around the area as it picked at a nearby crate.

Barney slumped down in defeat, sitting against the wall. What was he supposed to do now? Even if his shotgun wasn't worthless against the little critters, it wouldn't do much against a monster like that. But there wasn't any other way to get to the surface, as far as he knew.

…That wasn't entirely true. If all else failed, he could just try picking up as much crap as possible and bringing it back to that broken ladder. Of course, that would also mean fighting off a bunch of pissed-off scorpions as he did so. Not the ideal option.

Otherwise, he simply wasn't sure. There might be another ladder somewhere in all this madness, but if there was, he didn't know where.

Unless a miracle happened, or he tried his luck swimming, he was completely trapped.

* * *

**10:49 A.M.**

"No."

"You're not listening, man-"

"Oh, I've heard you alright. And I still say you're crazy."

"It counts as a drink, and you know it!"

Adrian groaned, leaning his head back against his seat. "It's _soup_. Just because it's a liquid doesn't mean it's a drink."

"But you can still drink it out of the can." Tomas countered.

"You can drink ketchup straight out of the bottle, too. That doesn't mean I'm gonna start chugging Heinz when I'm thirsty." Adrian said, turning away. Normally, he'd welcome a strange conversation or two from Tomas, but he couldn't handle it right now. There was just too much energy and tension in the air to focus.

Idly, Adrian glanced nearby at the rest of his squad. Most of them were either engaging in last-minute equipment checks or sitting around, watching the New Mexico desert pass by beneath their Osprey. It was a gorgeous sight, albeit somewhat spoiled by the cramped conditions in their bird. Jackson was trying to egg Tower on, but it didn't look like he was having any luck. On the surface, the situation seemed normal enough.

But Adrian just couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on. None of their commanders were saying a word about what they were doing, no matter who asked. All they'd been told was to gear up in full battle rattle and get onto the nearest transport. The entire base had been a flurry of Marines rushing around, troop transports trying to reach the gates, and aircraft buzzing overhead. He'd barely had time to put on his PCV before they were hurried to the landing pads.

All Adrian knew was that they were being shipped east at top speed, and to him, that meant Black Mesa was probably their destination. He wasn't sure why the higher-ups were being so hush-hush about it all, but maybe that was part of the exercise. Adapt and overcome, or something.

Not that he wasn't trying to figure it out even now. "You sure you can't tell us what the plan is, sir?" Adrian asked, looking over at Lieutenant Witt.

Witt just shook his head. "Already told you, Shephard, we'll get our orders once we get to the LZ. Command wants it to be a surprise."

"Hey, as long as we get to shoot something, I'm down." Jackson said, sporting a shit-eating grin. "Can't be worse than sitting around Santego all day."

It was an understandable attitude. Adrian had signed up for the Corps to do something exciting. He hadn't been expecting to slay dragons, but he'd figured they'd at least be shipped off to fight somewhere eventually. That was before he became intimately familiar with Drill Instructor Barnes' teaching methods and the endless Arizona desert.

Sighing, Adrian looked out the window, trying to find any noticeable landmarks. It was still mostly orange-brown sand and stone, but he could see other buildings start to pop up in the distance. He was pretty sure the structure on the river was the Black Mesa Dam. If that was the case, then they were probably only a few minutes out from the landing zones. Besides that, there were more Ospreys, some Apaches, and-

"…What the _fuck_?"

That was a fucking demon crow. A bus-sized, demonic crow, flying in-between their Ospreys. When the hell did that show up?

"…I'm seeing shit, man, please tell me I'm seeing shit." Tomas muttered, staring out the window. Everyone else was in a similar state of disbelief, watching as the shared fever dream soared between their transports. It was bizarre, incredible…and something about it made Adrian's stomach twist in discomfort.

That feeling proved well-founded. The crow glanced between the Ospreys, eyes glowing ominously, before diving into a spin. Massive black projectiles broke off from it, flying over towards the nearest aircraft. Adrian caught a glimpse of one hitting another Osprey's engine, causing the entire wing to fall apart in flames.

In a flash, blood splattered the inside of their own transport. Witt fell over, his torso cut open from shoulder to side. The Marine next to him started screaming in pain, one of his legs cut off at the hip. Air roared in from the new gap in the aircraft's hull, sending soldiers spilling onto the floor as the aircraft shuddered violently.

Their Osprey was going down, and all Adrian could do was clutch his seat for dear life.


	5. Unexpected Detours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't completely sure about parts of this chapter, to be honest. When it comes to odd design, Black Mesa is pretty bizarre, and the cargo container room is a prime example. However, without it, it felt like the Canal section would be a bit too quick/easy for Gordon to get through.
> 
> As for Barney, on the other hand, it wouldn't make sense for him to go through the same route as canon. As a consequence, he gets to enjoy far more pain and suffering before he gets out of Black Mesa.

**10:50 A.M.**

The journey through the vents was, surprisingly, uneventful.

All the paneling of the ventilation shafts, while somewhat rusty and dented, was free of gouges or bloodstains. The few vent covers he came across were still intact, forcing him to use his crowbar to proceed. He couldn’t hear any growls, or screams, or any other signs of those creatures being nearby.

After everything else the last hour had wrought, it was almost frustrating. The hallways littered with bodies, the abominations roaming the halls…the rest of Black Mesa may as well have been a war zone at this point. So why, out of all places, were the vents here so calm? Where _were_ those creatures?

He never got to find that answer before being forced out into the main passageway once more. Even his extensive experience with the Black Mesa ventilation system had limits, such as being unable to climb dozens of feet up vertical shafts. As such, he found himself wandering the concrete corridors of the Lower Canals once again, clutching his pistol and crowbar nervously.

For the most part, the hallways were in remarkably good shape as well. Ceilings and walls were intact, the lighting system was functioning, and there were no corpses or bloodstains nearby. The other personnel down here must have gotten the evacuation order before overwhelming numbers of the creatures arrived. Hopefully that proved true for the other sectors of Black Mesa as well.

After several moments wandering through empty hallways, he eventually came across another bridge. Thankfully, this one was fully intact, crossing over the gap below with metal panels and sturdy guardrails. The canal it was crossing was also much closer, a mere thirty feet below instead of the hundred the previous one was. It was still several dozen feet of open ground to cross, but for the moment, the path appeared clear.

Gordon cautiously began to walk forwards, keeping his pistol raised. The area was well-lit, and there was plenty of room to maneuver. That, combined with his HEV suit, would give him some small advantage if-

**_BZZZZZZZT_ **

His thoughts were disrupted as another obsidian tear in reality opened, several feet above the other end of the bridge. Gordon only caught a glimpse of the creature as a new horror entered the world, more bone and smoke amalgamations, before it crashed into the metal paneling with a terrible **_clang_**. The metal panels bent and broke under the creature’s weight, sending it crashing through the bridge and towards the canal below.

Gordon stumbled, feeling the bridge shake and buckle. He could hear the bridge creak and groan from the strain, bending further towards the canal. His feet began to slide on the metal flooring, and although he tried to reach out for the railings, they were too far away to grab. The canal bank approached, getting closer and closer-

Before he even recognized what was happening, Gordon slid off the ruined bridge and onto the concrete floor. His body landed on the concrete with a rough thud, rolling over into the wall. Pain shot through his side with the impact, his left arm and leg taking the brunt of the force.

But Gordon had far more pressing worries than the suit’s warnings of minor fractures. Twisting around, he scanned around the room, looking for any sign of the creature. However, all he could see was the rest of the bridge falling into the water, throwing massive plumes of water into the air.

Had it fallen into the water? Did some of the falling debris kill it? But if that was the case, then where was the body?

A twinge of pain broke through Gordon’s questions, making him clutch his side. Whatever had happened to it, it wasn’t his problem anymore. If it was still alive, he needed to leave before it returned to finish him off.

Shakily getting to his feet, Gordon took another look around. There weren’t any ladders near the tunnel entrances to climb up, leaving him stuck on this floor. Nearby, he could see a metal door built into the wall, labeled with a grimy ‘Maintenance Access’ sign. He grabbed his crowbar and-

Wait, where was his pistol? Did he drop it somewhere? Gordon looked nearby, trying to locate the weapon, but there was no sign of it. All he could see were pieces of debris and twisted metal.

A massive splash from the water disrupted his search. Back in the water, Gordon could make out another creature attempted to climb up the canal banks. This new variant was strange, with a massive tail and two legs, seemingly abandoning the animalistic characteristics of the other species. Thankfully, it appeared to be stuck down there, unable to find a foothold on the steep concrete.

It felt unnatural, watching one of these creatures struggle and drown from a position of relative safety. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to run, to escape, to do everything in his power to get away. He had witnessed the carnage these creatures were capable of. Merely having it be so close was making his skin crawl.

And yet, part of him wanted to stay and watch, despite the terror gripping his mind. These creatures were so strange, so _alien_ …these creatures were unlike anything he had ever seen before. What kind of environment would cause lifeforms like that to develop?

**_crunch_ **

In a sudden burst of movement, the creature sprang from the water, throwing itself at the canal bank. This time, the creature managed to dig into the material with its leg, tearing through the material with bony claws. It still slid back towards the water, but it didn’t fall completely in.

Seeing the creature begin to escape, Gordon turned and sprinted towards the maintenance door. He could hear it clamber onto the bank behind him, but he refused to turn around and look. His life was more important than scientific curiosity, and if that creature was as fast as the others, every second counted.

* * *

**10:56 A.M.**

Barney hated to admit it, but he was getting desperate.

That creature was still lounging around down at the bottom of the freight elevator, prowling around right next to his best opportunity to get to safety. He was pretty sure it knew he was somewhere nearby, but it refused to move too far from the elevator. It just had to know what it was doing. Why wasn’t it running hog wild all over the facility like the rest of those monsters?

Sadly, his other thoughts of escape appeared to be unfeasible. The canal, while seemingly clear of demonic horrors, was worryingly deep, swift, and murky. Unless he got lucky, odds were good that he’d simply be swept underwater all the way through Black Mesa, drowning in some drainage pipe along the way. Worse still, he might get crushed in the turbines on the way out. As for the broken ladder, well…

He’d taken a quick peek back in that tunnel, just to see if Plan B was feasible. The now-familiar orange glow shining out from the ventilation shafts had quickly dissuaded him from investigating any further.

Now, he was simply left with two options: tangle with Fido down there and hope that his shotgun was enough to kill it or find some way to contact the surface. And he’d been looking through his temporary sanctuary for a while, searching for a radio, or a phone, or…anything, really. Unfortunately, it looked like Black Mesa spent as much on its comms systems in this sector as it did for the rest of the maintenance tunnels.

Which meant that, somehow, he had to figure out how to kill that creature with a handful of flares, a shotgun with limited ammo, and a pistol that would only piss it off at best. Maybe he could shoot at it from a distance, get it to move away…

…Yeah, that wasn’t a good idea. But what else could he do? It wasn’t like he could make it back to Sector G, and he couldn’t remember any other paths to the surface…

“…Wait a moment.”

Unless he followed the canals even further down.

In all the confusion and chaos, he’d forgotten about where this stretch of the canals led off to. It would be a bit of a jaunt, but he was pretty sure that these tunnels eventually connected to the Waste Processing facility. From there, he should be able to find a different, less suicidal route topside. If he was lucky, maybe there’d even be an exit near the freight yard!

…Given his day so far, he probably wasn’t going to be that lucky. It would probably be a miracle if he even got to Waste Processing in the first place. Still, it beat just sitting around and waiting for the military to find him, or, God forbid, trying to tangle with that overgrown poodle himself. Who knew if buckshot would even put a dent in that thing?

Now all he had to do was leave his safe, well-lit hidey hole, go back into the filthy and monster-infested maintenance tunnels, and try to make his way through one of the most dangerous buildings in Black Mesa. No pressure.

“…I really ought to stop giving myself pep-talks.” Barney muttered. For as much as he liked to call himself an optimist, he couldn’t help but second-guess himself in the midst of stressful situations like this.

But like hell was he just going to sit around and hope that someone else would reach him. He’d seen enough evidence to know that, well-equipped or not, the army was going to have a hard time trying to clear out the lower sections of Black Mesa. Besides, who knew how many more of those creatures were going to pop out of thin air? If he wanted to get a seat on the rescue helicopters, he needed to get topside as soon as possible.

Checking his equipment one last time, Barney made his way towards the door. Risky or not, trying to make it to the surface beat waiting for something else to find him.

* * *

**11:09 A.M.**

As he stared at the chasm ahead, Gordon tried to make sense of how his life had gotten to this point.

Just an hour and a half before, his life had been normal. It had been a routine day, just another rushed experiment with the rest of the science team. His work environment had been safe, his coworkers were being helpful…he’d been more concerned with confiscated coffee and tardiness than anything else.

And now he was stuck above another massive gap, watching cargo crates dangle in the air hundreds of feet above a massive pit, contemplating which path was less suicidal. The path back towards the canal was blocked off by that creature, preventing him from trying to find another exit near the canal, but…

Well, what the hell was he supposed to do? The security office behind him was locked, and this time, the glass was completely intact. He couldn’t break reinforced glass with just a crowbar! And the other entrance had been sealed off as well, the hydraulic lock having become stuck. Other catwalks were lit up around the edge of the pit, but there was no way to get to them.

Except, as risky and stupid as it was, there was one path left. He could just barely see the other side of the chasm, lit up with fluorescent bulbs. The blurry sight of an open door greeted him from the distance, offering his only chance of escape.

Which meant climbing and jumping across cargo containers, hoping that nothing showed up to attack him and that the crates were securely anchored to the transport rail. Otherwise, he’d have to hope his HEV suit could protect him from a dozen-story drop.

Just…what was even the purpose of this room? What was in those boxes? Black Mesa didn’t mass manufacture anything on-site, at least to his knowledge. Were these supposed to be supplies for rocket assembly? Or replacement parts for the anti-mass spectrometer?

Gordon knew that those questions didn’t matter right now. However, every question he asked meant another moment before he had to leap over the abyss, risking certain death for a vague hope of escape. The only positive aspect to the situation was that he couldn’t see any creatures nearby. For now, the room was secure.

His hands trembled as he gripped the railing, gauging the distance between the platform and the first crate. It was only a few feet away. Manageable, if terrifying. He would almost call it reasonable, but nothing about this situation could be described as such.

Sighing, Gordon climbed up on the railing. He could feel his balance wavering already, catching glimpses of the fall should he fail. Tensing up, he sprang from the platform, waving his arms as he grabbed for the crate. His hands latched onto the cable as he landed, gripping it desperately as the crate swung and shifted beneath him.

After a few moments, in which Gordon tried to control his panicked breathing, the crate stopped shifting. He unsteadily stood up, keeping the cable in his grasp at all times. The first jump had been successful. One down, seven to go.

Gordon wasn’t sure if his heart could handle seven more jumps. It already felt like he was on the verge of having a heart attack. He could feel adrenaline flooding his body, making his head pound and ears ring.

But he was committed now. There was no way he could leap back, and sitting still would just leave him trapped. Gordon slowly got to his feet, trying to ignore his shaking legs. He could collapse into a pile once he reached solid ground.

* * *

**11:14 A.M.**

The Waste Processing Facility was, without a doubt, one of the least-liked buildings in Black Mesa.

It wasn't just the fact that most of the machinery was made up of Cold War relics. It wasn't just the fact that the facility dealt with everything from trash to radioactive waste.

The worst part, by far, was that godawful _stench_.

Decades of constant waste processing and disposal had left the facility with a smell that was, quite frankly, indescribable. More of a force of nature than a scent, it was enough to debilitate lesser men in just a few hours of exposure. It took a special kind of person to work in that environment, and even then, they were usually on frequent shift changes.

It was no surprise that this was where the rookies on the security team tended to get their first patrols. If you could survive there, you could handle anything Black Mesa threw at you. Well, anything before today, at least.

As such, when Barney opened the door to his old stomping grounds, he found himself unimpressed with the place.

"Worse than I remembered." Barney muttered, clutching his nose. His last patrol through this area had been years ago, and the facility certainly hadn’t changed for the better in his absence. He had hoped he'd never have to set foot in this place again. Unfortunately, as far as he was aware, there weren't any other options left to get topside.

To make matters worse, he had ended up in one of the lower sections of the facility, right next to the Preliminary Clarifiers. He still didn’t know what the hell those were supposed to be, but he knew that they were at least a few floors underground. It wasn’t nearly as dangerous as the sections that processed toxic waste, but the nearby incinerators and literal rivers of filth weren’t very pleasant to be around.

From his memories of the place, he had a bit of a trek before he made it to safety. Several floors of conveyor belts, trash compactors, piping, and musty air were in his path, discounting whatever horrors had managed to reach this building. If the staircases and ladders were still intact, it wouldn’t be that long of a trip. _If_.

Taking the moment to collect himself, Barney glanced around. The flow from the canals was being redirected down a massive tube, with a pair of crusted-over walkways on either side. The steel grating was constantly rumbling, with the nearby turbines and crushers shaking everything nearby. Rusted pipes stretched up into the air, disappearing out of sight near the unlit ceiling.

But surprisingly, that was it. No monsters, no corpses, no broken pipes or torn paneling…everything appeared to be normal in the immediate area. Still a horrible place to be in, but operating as usual despite that. All that was missing were the maintenance teams, and they’d probably already gotten the evacuation order by now.

Maybe those creatures hadn’t gotten this far into the facility? Horrifying though they were, there hadn’t been as many of those creatures in the maintenance tunnels as he’d glimpsed back in Sector G. And Waste Disposal was close to the outer perimeter of Black Mesa…

…No, that still didn’t make sense. That wolf thing had already been near the freight yards when he’d gotten there. Then there were the scorpions roaming through the vents…

Barney shook his head. As long as he was careful, he didn’t need to think about how those monsters got into Black Mesa. That was a job for the eggheads. Right now, all he needed to worry about was finding the nearest staircase.

* * *

**11:23 A.M.**

Gordon hadn’t been sure what to expect after crossing the pit.

By that point, he had been on the verge of collapsing. His legs and arms were burning from exertion, his throat felt like sandpaper, and his lungs were desperately gulping down oxygen. He hadn’t felt this exhausted since his first run through the Hazard Course, back when he had just been hired.

But after all that terror and effort, he’d been given a small break. There were no new horrors appearing out of thin air or collapsing pieces of Black Mesa’s infrastructure. Instead, he’d found a ladder back up to the tunnels, mercifully intact and stable.

After all that work, he had managed to get across the canal. A minute-long walk across a bridge, transformed into twenty minutes of purgatory. Only one creature had been responsible for that detour, and even then, it had been an accident. Glancing over the edge of the shattered bridge, he could even see that creature laying near the canal banks, having apparently forgotten about him.

He had been tempted to drop a grenade down there for good measure, but decided against it. As satisfying as it would be, without his pistol, the grenades were his best remaining method of self-defense.

Following the hallway further down, he came across another storage area. Cardboard and wooden boxes sat haphazardly on shelves, with an abandoned forklift sitting nearby. A few closed shutters blocked off paths to elsewhere on this floor, but that wasn’t what he had been focusing on.

At the end of the room was an elevator. An actual, honest-to-God elevator, with the doors open and the interior lit. He could even hear faint muzak playing from the speakers, filling the air with a simple tune.

Gordon didn’t even bother paying attention to the rest of the room. He simply limped across as quickly as he could, desperate to reach the lift. It could drag him up to the middle of the desert for all he cared, as long as it brought him closer to the surface. Making it inside, he pressed the button for the highest available floor, hoping it would take him to an exit.

Unfortunately, as the doors opened, Gordon was not met with the scorching heat and blazing light of the New Mexico desert. Instead, he was met with the ruins of the Administration building.

Cracked fluorescent lighting sputtered over checkered flooring and damaged drywall. The ceiling was missing several tiles, and sections of the ductworks and wiring were exposed. Red emergency lights lit up the path further into the building, although the emergency alarms had gone silent by now. The path to his left went around a hallway, while to his right sat a closed-off break room.

To his amazement, said break room wasn’t abandoned, or filled with corpses. Two surviving members of the science team were standing near the vending machines, motioning at each other in a silent argument. They looked haggard, with stained coats and exhausted gazes, but neither seemed injured. Given the state of the rest of the facility, Gordon felt like he was hallucinating just seeing another living human.

If the faces the scientists made when they noticed him were anything to go by, they were thinking the same thing. One of them ran off deeper into the room and ducked under a table. The other one simply stared at Gordon, mouth ajar, before snapping out of it and moving towards the entrance.

“Another survivor! Hurry, get in here!” She said, opening the door. All the while, her eyes remained fixed at the end of the hallway, as if expecting something to come charging down at any second. It was probably a smart attitude to have by this point.

Nodding in thanks, Gordon entered the room. The second he made it through, the scientist quickly closed and locked the door, taking once last glance around before sighing in relief.

“I can’t believe it. With everything that’s happened…we weren’t sure if there was anyone else left alive. This entire building’s been overrun by those… _things_.” She said, shuddering. “That suit…you’re from the Lambda Complex, right?”

Gordon frowned, shaking his head. He’d never even stepped foot into that sector before. The Lambda Labs were marked with some of the highest security requirements in Black Mesa, to the point where nobody was really sure what the researchers there did. What could they be doing that required HEV suits?

“Then…Anomalous Materials? They had that big test today…I hope they’re still okay.” The woman muttered, frowning pensively. “How did you…why would you come here, of all places? Doesn’t that sector have access to the trams?”

“W-we were just hiding from those monstrosities in here.” The other scientist interrupted, climbing out from under the coffee table. “Everything up ahead is a madhouse. The security teams tried to organize an evacuation about an hour ago, but…well…it went poorly.”

“The guards weren’t able to hold those creatures back. Everyone who survived ran off further into the facility, and we ended up here.” She said. “Since then, we’ve been waiting for the rescue teams to arrive. Although, to be frank, I have my doubts they’ll survive long enough to reach us.”

“Waiting here is our only option! Without protection, those beasts will tear through us in an instant! You saw what happened to Remmington!” The other scientist shouted. “Besides, what if more of our colleagues show up? We can’t just abandon them!”

“Not this again.” She sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to Gordon. “Regardless, if you want to stay here with us, you’re welcome to. Otherwise, if you do make it to the surface, please let someone know we’re down here. Either way, we’re staying here and hiding.”

Staying and hiding was, admittedly, a tempting option. The vending machines had enough food and beverages to allow them to hide out for days, and the room would be easy to barricade. For unarmed, unarmored scientists, it wouldn’t be a terrible decision.

But it wouldn’t be the right decision either. Those creatures were already appearing out of thin air. One of those rifts was just as likely to throw another horror into the break room as it was somewhere else in Black Mesa. Then there was Eli, and Kleiner, and anyone else left in Sector C that was still alive. They were counting on him to get them help, and after everything he’d gone through today, Gordon wasn’t going to abandon them.

Reluctantly, Gordon shook his head. As horrifying as the situation was, he had to keep going until he reached help. After that, he could afford to stop and break down.

The scientist shrugged. “Alright then. Just…be careful out there, would you? Enough people have died already, and even with that suit, you’re hardly invincible.”

“If you do run into more of those creatures, don’t try to fight them. Just run. The security teams tried to use firearms against them, but…they weren’t particularly effective.” The other scientist said, shivering.

He had already seen evidence of both statements firsthand, but he couldn’t blame them for trying to help. They were probably just as frightened and anxious as he was. More survivors who owed their lives to happenstance and luck than any semblance of reason.

Turning around, Gordon stared past the break room doors. The flickering lights from the hallway cast the area in irregular shadows, making it difficult to see the scattered debris and broken furniture. Compared to the ordered, well-lit breakroom, it may as well have been a nightmare.

Sighing, Gordon unlocked the doors, stepping outside. Although his exhausted body and mind begged him to stay back, he had to keep moving. If he didn’t, he might not be able to start again.

* * *

**11:28 A.M.**

Barney had hoped that he could make it through Waste Processing without seeing any bodies.

So far, his trip through the underbelly of Black Mesa had been…not really _clean_ , per se, but bloodless. Aside from a quick glimpse at the disaster in Sector G and the remains in the elevator, he hadn’t come across any corpses.

As he looked at the entrance to the stairwell, his luck had finally run out.

One of the maintenance workers was slumped against the nearby walls, his green jumpsuit coated in red stains. A massive, gaping hole had been dug into his chest, and one of his legs had been cut off at the knee. The poor bastard must have been ambushed down here, all alone.

Shuddering, Barney tried to steady himself. It was too late to do anything for the worker. He needed to look away, get his head back in the game, and keep moving upstairs. All he could do now was keep himself alive.

That didn’t stop his hands from shaking as he scanned the room, looking for any signs of movement. If whatever had done this was still nearby, it would get a shell between the eyes. Or whatever counted for eyes on those things, at least.

However, as far as he could tell, he was alone. Either the creature was hiding behind some of the nearby machinery, or it had moved on to a different part of the plant. Not his problem to deal with anymore.

He tried not to look at the body as he walked past, moving into the stairwell. As he walked forwards, his mind went back over what he knew about the monsters. Or, rather, the incredibly limited amount of information he had scrounged together.

What the hell were these creatures, anyways? They couldn’t be animals. The one he killed had puffed up in a cloud of smoke, for Christ’s sake. Then there were the glowing eyes, the bulletproof bone plates, the damage they could cause…nothing about them made sense. Were they aliens? Mutants?

…Barney desperately hoped that these monsters weren’t actually demons. He was pretty sure that even the United States military would have a hard time dealing with an enemy like that, no matter how many men the army poured into Black Mesa.

Looking up, Barney tried to make out the rest of the staircase. Floor after floor of metal platforms caught his eye, lit up with dim yellow bulbs. The rust-coated walls and poor lighting weren’t very welcoming, but as far as he could see, the stairs were still intact. It would be a long walk to safety.

Given the corpse sitting on the other side of the doorway, Barney decided not to complain too much. With how far he had traveled so far, it would have been easy for him to end up just like that worker. One wrong turn, slightly worse luck…really, it was a miracle he’d made it this far.

Shouldering his shotgun, Barney began his arduous climb. Dumb luck or not, he had survived thus far, and he had no intention of stopping that track record. Later, after the military cleared everything up, he could come back and help that worker get a proper burial.

For now, he had an exit to find.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I wrote this.
> 
> I have three other series I need to work on, but this idea popped into my head, and suddenly I had 4,000 words of prologue ready.
> 
> So yeah, enjoy this weird blend of Half-Life and RWBY. Because why not.


End file.
